Taken Away
by Saturn Stars
Summary: [PostFic]How can you possibly live in the now, when you're taken away from your heaven and placed in your hell? Edward in Germany, Winry in Amestris. What happens when they meet? [Third Category: Romance][M for violence... and maybe smut][EdxWin!]
1. Chapter 1

**Taken Away: Chapter One**

_How can you possibly live in the now, when you have been taken from your heaven and placed in your hell?_

Edward sat quietly in his solid train seat. After glancing over plans of rocketry for maybe the trillionth time, he had maybe discovered that he understood everything he possibly could about the diagram, and looking over it one more time wasn't going to change that anymore. He'd always been stubborn, and this particular project was starting to hurt his eyes.

He sighed with sudden painful boredom. He then fell back into the seat with eyes closed. _How long is this trip going to take?_

He fiddled with the buttons on his coat as he toyed with wandering thoughts in his head. How much was this Hermann Oberth going to help him?Would it take away all his problems and set him on his journey home once and for all? He wasn't going to be disheartened, no matter the case. People had told Edward constantly that it would take more than fifty years to actually build the machine he so longed to complete. But knowing himself so well, he could get it done much sooner if he put his mind to it. That's what he liked to believe anyway, and that's what he would believe.

The conversation with his father still overruled all other thoughts in his mind. So many times he had speculated if he had succeeded. What was the point in having to live in this place when he hadn't…? He couldn't even think about the possibility of failure to bring his brother back into the sweet world he longed to see again. He couldn't accept it if he was living out this pain when his brother's life was not restored. He could bear with the heartache if his brother was alive somewhere, enjoying life. But doubt continued to tug at Edward from the very back of his deepest thoughts. His brother had to be alive.

Why couldn't he just float away? Why couldn't he just fly away and somehow float back to eternal bliss. He never knew what a blessing it was to just smell, hear, see, touch and even taste before he came to this place… but he had taken everything precious to him for granted. He was finding it hard without familiar faces and places. He had his father, but he had no-one next to that. His father was next-to-no-one.

He was struggling without a proper functioning auto-mail, which lead back to how the absence of Winry was actually affecting him deeper than he ever could have imagined. He had taken for granted her auto-mail. Now that he had to live with this piece of metal he and his father had unskilfully put together, it had certainly put Winry's importance to him into perspective.

If only she could see him now. If only she could see him at his point of breaking, where he would get down on his hands and knees to beg for her skills. She would probably be in heaven if he admitted how much auto-mail really meant to him. She would be thrilled to discover that he thought her work was amazing and inspiring, because after studying it with his father for quite some time he still couldn't come up with anything nearly as brilliant as she did. He would then tell her discreetly however, that it did come down to the fact that the worlds were completely different. He didn't think she would like that though...

If anything, he was more upset about the fact he didn't even have time to research his own auto-mail. His father had toiled after hours of his own back bending work to get it working at some sort of decent level. When Edward did have time to work on it, he never really contributed much at all. He had files and files of his own theories. Folders with papers busting out of them, and books with diagrams and explanations. It looked like it was something, but it really wasn't. He just didn't grasp the concept of auto-mail. To learn something, he had to be taught instead of trying to remember what Winry had done with him all those times. Yes, he could teach himself anything through books, but there wasn't exactly any auto-mail books lying around on earth. And there certainly wasn't anyone who could help him. So, his father was his only bet. After being Pinako's drinking buddy for several years… he had to have picked up something… and he did, something that was of slight help anyway.

Edward was distracted from his troubled and lonely thoughts when a young woman, no older than he peered over curiously at his disturbed expression. He looked up at her with accusation in his golden eyes, piercing her cool and calm disposition.

"Yes?" He hissed, when the woman continued to stand in silence, content with staring at him dumbly… or should he say rudely?

"We will arrive in Transylvania shortly." Came her shocking reply. Ed swiped his hand across his forehead to signal his frustration when she still didn't leave and had to inconveniently open his mouth again.

"Is there something else?" He hissed again, only this time he tensed his fists at the mere sight of her. He wasn't impressed when she sat down next to him casually and looked at him with utter adoration.

"Hey, you are Hohenheim's son right?" She asked, as her eyes lit up with delight. She smoothed the wrinkles out in her dress, nervously, as she awaited his reply. The women in this country were pathetic, no doubt a result of the way they had been raised. Their whole life all the learnt was how to seek out a man that could look after them, and become their husband. He found all of them far less trained than any woman back in Amestris was. They were dull, too flirtatious, and obviously suppressing their natural charm to appear helpless and in need of protection.

He nodded, his eyes slanting with suspicion. He wasn't quite sure if he should go around telling people who his father was, and he sure as hell didn't need to tell people who his father was if he didn't know them, he'd already had too many women try to become his 'life partner' because he was more than a suitable candidate. But something about the girl's face seemed sincere; so he had nodded his head and hoped his father hadn't done something to screw around with her life, like he had with his own son's.

"I'm in one of his classes for mechanical science. He has told me so much about you, I'm fascinated. I can't believe I am sitting next to such a genius." She grinned widely, which reassured him she was telling the truth, however, instant concern and uncertainty surpassed the flattery of her compliment. This girl? A girl in Germany did mechanical science? He knew he shouldn't have been dumbfounded he had been surrounded by a childhood friend who breathed mechanical science from a young age. But here, all he had seen women breathe is too much of their face powder.

"He talks about me in his classes…?" Ed raised an eyebrow as the sudden realisation began to hit him. He could now clearly hear that voice in the back of his head that had started to whisper to him when he first saw her.

"No!" She instantly corrected herself when she discovered Edward seemed to be displeased with her reply. "I talk to him after class sometimes. I was explaining my interest in rocketry… when…" She trailed off with sadness when she saw the look on Edward's face, yet the utter disbelief plastered on his features was not due to her choice of interests. "Look, I know I am a woman and will never be accepted on any type of project… I am grateful for even being accepted into Professor Hohenheim's class. But I don't need that look. I am sick of it." She looked away with a sigh. "I'm never going to get anywhere with this am I? Even if I am really talented."

He was sure now, and it had completely frozen him to the spot. Light brown hair with brown eyes that gazed upon his with the exact intensity of her eyes. _Winry._ "Say… your name?" He asked sheepishly. It was hard to look upon this girl as such a woman. Would Winry be the same back home? He shook his thoughts off when she opened her mouth to reply.

"Winry. But my friends call me Win. You can too!" She held out her hand in a wanting gesture to shake his. But Edward had suddenly paled a colour worse than white when he remembered his father's words.

'_There may even be a young boy resembling your brother here'_

That meant that there could be a young woman resembling Winry here as well. Of course he would have to bump into her… on a train to Transylvania.

"Winry…" He turned his head to gaze out the window with no warning at all, leaving the poor girl with worry she had said something to upset him. "Say, do you work on this train…?" He asked, abruptly turning his head to face her blank one. He remembered the first words she had said to him

'_We will be arriving shortly' _or something along the lines of that anyway.

"No, actually I'm looking to help out on rocketry somewhere. It fascinates me. But there is absolutely no way anyone would let me on this task, even with proof of my excellent grades."

He chose to ignore the last part of her sentence for the moment, while focusing on how she knew he was heading for Transylvania. "Then how did you know where I was going? At that start of the conversation…"

"Oh, your ticket is on the opposite seat." Edward turned his head towards the direction of her gaze and pouted. It was just like Winry to pry in his business. "I'm headed there as well. Just to visit a friend. You? If you don't mind me asking."

"Actually, I am headed to meet a student of rocketry. Hermann Oberth. I have the Goddard report with me… maybe it could be of some help to him." Edward smirked. "But it's all for one thing. So he will help me build the goddamn thing before I die or wither away." He couldn't help but notice the positive glow Winry now had around her and turned his head with a blink of his eye.

"Wow… I wish I was a man…" Edward couldn't help but laugh at her insane comment. He had been disgusted with society's expectations, different traditions and obsession with religion. But he wasn't one to challenge the ways of an entire world.

"Don't say that, actually. I had a friend… she was a mere teenager and classed as one of the top mechanics." It was all he could do; give her some kind of hope to press on. It must have been so hard, and frustrating, to have the talent and the passion, but have it go to waste because of your gender. He wanted to laugh at the stupidity of it actually.

When he looked into her eyes once again, he saw the sudden admiration she was directing at him and blushed. He didn't like that look, it was the look Winry rarely gave him back home… but it was enough to make his cheeks flare with heat.

"Edward… is it okay if after one of your father's classes I visit you…?" He suddenly stiffened at her comment and blinked when she continued. "You live on the Munich university campus don't you? Well… I was just wondering if maybe you could show me something…" she paused, "about well your plans and your works. I would really love to see them."

Edward knew there was something more to what she was saying. If he could be frank he would have picked that she actually wasn't interested in coming over to play rockets at all. Yet that was a harsh statement, considering the fact it seemed to be the girl's life passion. What could she possibly have to come around to his house for? He just met her on the train, and although he felt like he knew her… she wouldn't have the slightest idea about him. Could she possibly want to get closer to the Elric's so she could get her grades up… _hang on, why was she blushing?_

To escape her sudden embarrassment Edward tried to form some words of approval.

"I'm so sorry; it was out of place, a woman like me asking that." She looked away, cheeks tinged with a beautiful colour that resembled her current swirl of emotions. Edward sighed, and brought his hand up to his forehead. The last thing he needed was having her around his house with the current amount of work he had to do. But maybe she could be of some use to his research. He wasn't going to underestimate her before he even put her skills to the test… and perhaps if he showed her his auto-mail designs…

"Okay."

She once again turned to face him, a smile ever so perfect gracing her lips.

"Really?"

"Yes"

He heard a slight squeal of excitement escape her lips and sighed.

"I could hug you!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together. She simply couldn't wait.

"Please refrain."

She laughed at his comment.

"As stiff as ever right? Professor Hohenheim told me not to go looking for you, because you were a grumpy old man." Before Edward had time to protest, or even open his mouth so he could just get his own frustration voiced, she had stood up and placed her hands behind her back with a small smile.

"Well, I should return to my seat. Good luck with the quest. If we meet in Transylvania by chance, then let's grab a bite to eat together." She waved at him shyly and turned to dash off to her seat on the train, wherever that was, before he even got a word in. He sat with two wide eyes and a blank expression as she left him in silence, reminding him of how alone he felt here.

Not quite sure of what had just happened; he pulled out his watch and glanced over the current time. He would be arriving soon.

What he had just been through had to be one of the most goddamn weird experiences he had ever encountered.

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It was late in the afternoon when Edward arrived at his destination. He watched the small crowd step off the train quietly, all with their own business; all of them just living out their lives in this place that Edward could never call home. It wasn't long before he spotted the girl who had boldly created conversation with him and waved to her before she faded into the distance.

Edward sighed. It had been a long trip, and an uncomfortable one at that. His back ached like there was no tomorrow and he didn't know what he wouldn't kill for a nice cold drink or home cooked meal.

He began walking down the station platform quietly. Living with his father had made him appreciate the simple pleasures of home. A nice home cooked meal by Pinako, or even Winry, travelling with his brother and being able to eat at the finest restaurants… hell, even the military food was better than the crap his father could barley even call a meal served up. But it was better than living on the streets, as Edward had noticed a lot of people were in this place.

Edward stopped in his tracks, noticing the street which was highly lacking humans. He pulled out the tiny scrap of paper that contained the address of the man he was after. But who knew if those files in his father's office were any good anymore.

"Damn… this would be good if I actually knew where I was." Edward looked around desperately. "It's supposed to be close to the train station, where in the hell is someone—" Just as he was about to stomp his foot down and attempt to kick down this street light in front of him, a young woman appeared from around the corner. Which was good for Edward's health, attempting to kick down a street light wouldn't have exactly given him the dandiest of aches.

When she stopped in front of him with a quizzical gaze, Edward really began to wonder if he had something on his face. _Winry was staring at me like that just a while back… _

"Is there something wrong?" She asked unexpectedly, disturbing the eerie silence of the street. It almost seemed like she had broken a law, and Edward swallowed, looking around for any other life forms. "You look troubled." _Okay so maybe I just have one of those faces. _Edward brought his hand up to his forehead and exhaled shakily. He couldn't help it if his natural expression was a frown.

"I'm looking for this address, if you would be so kind." He passed her the piece of paper and watched as her confused expression turned to a soft smile. _That can't be good. _She looked as if 

she thought he was joking around and handed back the piece of paper with an even bigger smile. "Wait… this is the town Hermannstadt right?"

She giggled at his totally clueless expression and nodded.

"Yes, and my husband's house is just down the road."

Edward wasn't quite sure if he had heard correctly, actually the comment had breezed over his head quite easily.

"I'm Irene Sänger-Bredt, Hermann's wife. But you may call me Irene" She extended her hand. It took Edward a few seconds to realise what she was gesturing towards and he clumsily took her hand in his and shook it. "My, my, quite a strong handshake you have there Mr. Elric. It means you are a wonderful man did you not know, come along." Edward stood stiffly as she walked right passed him and began strolling in the opposite direction.

"But wait! Didn't you point that way?" Edward watched as she turned to see him point down the way of the house and shook her head.

"Honestly, you men are pathetic. I am going to do some shopping for dinner tonight since you will be staying. Do you mean to tell me that you will not be a gentleman and help me carry the bags home?" She raised her eyebrow at the him and waited as he caught up the distance she had walked.

"Irene… Miss…"

"Irene will be fine. And the answer to your question: Your father called to inform you were heading here. We were asked if we could hold you for the night. I wouldn't have it any other way. The streets are dangerous at night, and neither I nor Hermann want you walking to the train station in such horrible conditions."

Edward hadn't heard most of the conversation. Except for the '_Your father called' _part and glanced ahead with fury.

"My father called?" He asked with infuriation. This was another thing his father had successfully kept from him, and this time it wasn't exactly something his child could simply get over. "Why didn't he tell me that he knew you?" Edward felt his fists tense and waited patiently for a reply to his question.

"Yes, yes. Hermann and I do not live here, did you know? Actually, Hermann studied at the University in Munich, and now teaches classes. He knows your father very well. We are just visiting some old friends."

"He kept it all from me."

"Perhaps he wanted you to be surprised?"

"He knows I hate surprises." She rolled her eyes at the young man muttering incoherent profanities under his breath before they entered the store.

It was just like Hohenheim had said, he was a grumpy one. His warning was well heeded.

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"Ed…?" Was her mind playing tricks on her? Winry stared intensely at the person in front of her, to discover it was Ed's younger brother standing before her; a beautiful innocence that once shone in his eyes was completely gone.

Winry glanced at the grown up boy in her door way. It was a mere six months before he had gone off for training. And here he stood now, hair just above his shoulders, but long enough to put into a pony tail, and clothing unmistakably close to Edward's old attire.

"Al… just what the hell are you doing?" She was more shocked over the fact she didn't recognise his eyes more than his appearance. This wasn't the young boy she had seen off at the train station that day.

"Don't be alarmed, Winry," He pushed passed her in the doorway and waited for her to close the door behind her.

She had grown as well. He observed her long golden locks pinned back on her head, and could almost see the womanly presence she gave off. She had paired together with Riza for a few things here and there, and had been mildly affected if Al could say so. He had seen her around without her knowing and observed how violent Winry could actually get. But it wasn't much of a change; she always did enjoy bashing his brother over the head with a wrench. Her days of auto-mail had almost ceased completely, save for a few needy patients here and there, and she was hardly even home to enjoy her Grandma's company anymore. Al sighed, they had both changed drastically.

"It seems we both want the same thing." Winry's eyes softened at Al's truthful comment, but acted like a naïve eighteen year old, as she usually did in these talks about his brother.

"Winry I am dressed like this to get information on my brother. It seems that in your secret business with Riza you two have also been gathering clues." Winry stepped back slightly and sat down with a thump on the couch. He knew she hated these conversations about his brother. But it had to be done.

"Al… how did you…"

"I am my brother's brother you know. Apparently he was quite the genius celebrity around here. I'm glad someone told me." Winry could feel the guilt rise from her stomach up to her throat and placed her hands over her knees nervously.

"I thought it would be better if you—"

"Winry, I'm not here to get angry at you. You promised me a long time ago that you would become an auto-mail master. Therefore I had to return. But you also made me another promise… do you remember Winry?" She nodded knowingly and let a soft whisper drift from her lips to Al's ears with a distance look to her eyes.

"To help you find Edward…"

Al sat down next to her, attempting the softer approach. Finding out so much information in the space of a few months was enough to make him one angsty teenager. But he had to remember Winry was family, no matter how she chose to deal with situations.

"You have been doing it already haven't you? But you want to find him too don't you? You're not just doing it for me."

Winry's cheeks suddenly turned a deep shade of red, not from embarrassment, from anger… (_Okay maybe slight embarrassment) _

"Damn that Edward! What the hell does he think he is doing wherever he is? I just know his auto-mail will be a mess! As his auto-mail engineer, I have to make sure I find him! It's my obligation to make sure his auto-mail is safe."

Al turned to let out a sigh of shame and whispered to himself. "She tries to deny it, but this just makes it more obvious!" When she had finished glowing with her auto-mail pride Al turned to her with a stern look.

"I know what you can do Winry." She turned her head with sudden curiosity and tilted it to the side. "I heard of these two brothers, the Tringham brother's. They told Edward where to go, the last place he was seen. Roze remembers being inside the building doesn't she? But she was still 

slightly drugged and found unconscious somewhere in Lior before she came here. This must mean that this place we have been trying to find is in Lior somewhere... I don't know why. But I am convinced that you should go talk to our teacher."

Winry's face screwed up with sudden terror. "Eeeeeeh? What? Why me? That woman is your master!"

"She won't tell me anything. She is trying to protect me. I have already been beaten for trying to delve deeper into the stone around her."

"And you would have me go and be beaten by her?" Winry opened her jaw as widely as she possibly could in astonishment.

"Winry… you're a woman. She will have more sympathy." _Oh yeah, sympathy_. Winry didn't doubt that Izumi was completely free of any sympathy bones in her body. "If there is anyone who can get information out of her it's you. Beside's it will be nice for you to take a trip to Dublith… it's near rush valley."

"Al I gave up auto-mail… you know that. It feel's wrong to Edward, I don't know… it's all I could do for him and now…"

"Well brother wouldn't want you moping around, Winry."

Al was right, he was. But Winry couldn't find the heart to indulge in simple pleasures such as auto-mail when Edward could be rotting in a cell somewhere for all she knew, all the more reason to agree to Al's request. They should just find Ed and get it over and done with.

"You go to Izumi, while I go chase up these brothers. Together we can find Edward."

"I'll go." Al's soft smile suddenly turned into a victorious smirk. He stood up and placed his gloves back on with satisfaction.

"Good."

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Edward groaned behind the woman. He was sure that she had bought extra, just so she could make him suffer on the trip back. She held two light bags in each hand. While Edward, on the other hand, had his suit case in one hand, with five extra bags he didn't need to carry with it, and a whole string of bags up his left arm which he didn't even want to begin to count. His left shoulder felt like it was going to give out any second, and this really wasn't helping his sore back. He knew one thing though; she had better cook one hell of a dinner. If she did, it would all be worth it. He would do anything for a woman's meal at the moment.

After entering the humble abode gratefully, a smell that smelt so sweet wafted through the air, Edward didn't want to leave. He took a peek at the already boiling soup from behind the woman and felt his stomach grumbling in appreciation. His gratitude for the meal was soon however interrupted when a firm hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Well, well, if it isn't Edward Elric."

Edward lifted his head to gaze curiously into fierce intense eyes of a practical genius.

"Oberth"

"Call me Hermann young man!" He extended his hand and shook Edward's own. "So what have you come to discuss with me?"

Edward was about to open his suddenly dry mouth, _this could be the man that gets me home, _but his wife suddenly interrupted with the flick of her petite wrists. She now had her apron wrapped around her that told the men she was in 'cooking mode' and she didn't want to be disturbed.

"Don't you want dinner to be a surprise? Don't think you are going to stand in the kitchen and discuss your men's business while I am cooking!" Edward was almost taken aback by the woman's ferocious tone of voice and stood frozen.

"Quite right you are, darling." Hermann's sarcastic gaze fell from his cross wife to the nervous young man in front of him without the slightest trouble in the world. "We'll take this into my office shall we?" Edward nodded vigorously and followed the man cautiously. He couldn't act out of place at all.

His own footsteps seemed to trouble him; he tried desperately to hold in his breath and prayed that Hermann wasn't one to joke around. If he was faced with a vicious situation, sometimes Ed couldn't help but run his mouth and start sprouting foul words and insults. Tonight, Edward didn't want to ruin his chances with this opportunity. Because when opportunity opened a door you had to walk through it in fear that door would never open again for you.

"Let me guess what you are here for…" He offered Edward a seat then sat down behind his own desk covered with numerous papers Edward would do anything to get his hands on. "My research right…?"

Edward shifted in the uncomfortable seat slowly, feeling his stomach swirl with more than a few emotions. The way the man had raised his eyebrow with suspicion was not proving to look in favour of Edward's wish.

"I want to build a rocket."

The air was suddenly filled with one of the loudest laughs Edward had ever heard and he didn't blame Hermann for thinking he was completely insane. Once the laughter had died down and Hermann let out a few last laughs in need of air, Edward sighed.

"Well don't we all." Herman said, the remain of a chuckle evident in his voice. "But you know we are talking many years here… I can have theories and such, but actually building one." The laughter started again, and Ed had to clench his fists in order to remain calm.

"I must build one, I will build one!" The sudden determination planted on the young man's face was enough to cease the man's laughter and turn him completely serious. "I need your help."

"You do understand that I wouldn't be stupid enough to show you any of my theories until I actually get them published. I am currently working on a thesis; it should be finished around this time next year." Edward knew this would be the case. To Hermann, someone coming to ask for his theories would be extremely suspicious. His information could be very valuable in the future, and if Hermann had any sense he would keep people away from his hard work. But no matter what, Edward had to try… his hardest!

"Sir, I swear on my grave that I have no intention of ripping your work off." There it was again, the raised eyebrow that caused Edward to sink lower and lower into the chair.

"Then why such the hurry? There is no way we could build it now even if I showed you my research. We would need bucket loads of money first of all. If you really don't want to rip of my work… you can wait a year. But I will not be the one funding this project, and I know you are the son of a brilliant man, but what we are talking about is not something to play around with children. You will have to prove your skills, and we will need more members for a project. It's completely senseless Edward, a waste of my time. Give up such a fool's dream." This comment made Edward sink the lowest he possibly could without slipping off the chair and looking like a complete idiot.

What was he supposed to tell the man to gain his sympathy? _'I want to travel back to my home world by reaching the stars.' _That wouldn't make Oberth willing to cooperate with him, actually it would make him more inclined to dismiss all of Edward's requests and think of him as a _completely _insane idiot.

He wasn't in a hurry for money. He didn't want to steal the man's report to earn a few good dollars. He wasn't a child, he was a prodigy. And he definitely wouldn't waste any of this man's time. But how did Oberth know any of this? He could tell the man, try to pound it into his brain. 

But from Oberth's point of view, Edward was a foolish child chasing a foolish dream. He wasn't completely wrong either.

"Herman… I…" Edward struggled for any words that could help him out of this situation with his pride still intact and he fiddled with his brown jacket mindlessly.

"DINNER!"

Edward nearly jumped out of his seat when the shrill alert was called from the kitchen, and stood up quickly in hopes of recovery. Hermann laughed at the young man's reaction and stood up to give him a pat on the back.

"You will have to excuse my wife." He leant over to whisper in his ear. "She specializes in torturing men." Edward gulped with fear, but if her dinner tasted satisfyingly delicious like it smelt, he honestly didn't care.

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After two wonderfully home cooked meals. Edward was completely revived and happy as ever. Despite all the disappointing news, he was pleased to learn that Oberth was returning to Munich University shortly and would be thrilled to let Edward sit in on his lectures.

Much to Irene's displeasure, Edward had decided to leave the morning after. He stood at the front door with his equipment and a genuine smile. He had to get home as soon as possible to search for the next clue. He wouldn't believe that if he got close to the answer it would fly away. This time he wouldn't be beaten down.

"Edward," Oberth's firm gaze set on Edward's, for a fleeting second Edward believed he was going to suggest something of importance. "Have you tried Einstein?" Edward simply shivered at the man's name. He didn't want anything to do with that man.

"I'd rather not." Oberth nodded, agreeing, and let out a sigh.

"Then the last piece of advice I can offer you is a young man currently conducting research in Munich, I believe he is located quite near the university. He is looking for someone to build a rocket with. I believe that his efforts are wasted, but I thought I would let you know anyway. Before you go jumping around, you need to realise that it will be extremely hard to find a patron for men barely eighteen."

Edward had picked up an extremely helpful technique that helped him through the utter frustration of just having to mingle with earth people. It was the helpful habit of only picking up important parts of the conversation. Through this he gained so much more time, and lost the frustration that came with having to listen to people ramble on about stuff that would only worry him anyway. Yep he had caught everything he needed know '_Munich, researcher, looking for a partner!' _Great, it sounded great.

"His name?"

"Alphonso Heiderich"

**SATURN STARS**


	2. Chapter 2

**Taken Away:** Chapter Two

_"Foolishness!"_

"But Grandma! I have to go find Ed. I promised Al! I can't break my promises!"

"I won't let this go on any longer! You and that dog of the military have been running around causing trouble for the past six months!"

"No! We-"

"I have sources Winry, you are acting foolish. Can't you see this? Wherever Edward is, I'm sure he can fend for himself."

"And why can't I help find him!"

"You want to go to Dublith by yourself! I won't have it Winry!"

"I'm eighteen now! And I choose to look for him! That's it!"

"Would he do the same for you Winry?"

"Yes he would Grandma, and you know it."

Winry looked over her shoulder as she set off over the green pasture that she had long frowned upon.

Everything had changed after Ed left their world. Amestris. Parliament controlled. She thought that she would never live to see the day. Al, in flesh and blood, doing everything he could to bring his brother back. And her… what was she?

She turned her head back to the front with determined eyes. She knew one thing. She was strong, growing stronger today.

What used to be her warm and comforting home, now felt like her prison. She didn't like going back there… to her prison, or the beautiful green hills that had kept her enchanted for so many years. It was just something else that tried to keep her trapped in this small country town, instead of going out to see the world, like she should have long ago.

_"Roze… you will be alright won't you?" The girl nodded to Winry's question, letting her small toddler run around beside her._

"Tell Riza…" Winry struggled to find the words 'searching for Edward' sounded strange because she had been searching for him between gathering information on the war all along. And saying that 'Al sent me on a mission' also sounded kind of strange since Al was what… six years younger than her? Winry sighed as she tried to find the right words.

"Don't worry Winry," Roze's warm hand came into contact with Winry's cold one, suddenly Winry felt at ease, everything would be alright. "I'll tell her everything."

"If Wrath manages to come back… make sure you tell him to look after his auto-mail!" Roze laughed at the young woman's antics and nodded her head. "Honestly, I put up with disrespect from Edward for years… and he soon as he disappears it starts again!"

"They are alike in a way…"  


_  
"Make sure you don't get yourself involved any further Rose." The mother's eyes widened with Winry's cautious words. Winry had tried to back out of helping Roy and Riza gather information in secret a long time ago. But it just kept pulling her deeper, and deeper into the web of lies. If she hadn't had Wrath there to protect her on a few occasions… surely…_

"You will be back won't you Winry?" Rose asked with panic, her eyes widening. "You are just talking like you're going to die soon." Winry looked away at her words.

"I'll be back no matter what! But I'm not going back to that. It reminds me too much of…" Rose pulled back from her defensive expression and turned her eyes away, she had given up on trying to carry some of Winry's pain. The girl didn't even know what was missing.

She had hoped Rose was still in the house, safe. That she hadn't journeyed out to go meet Riza, Winry knew all too well for she had done it too many times. Rose had become almost like a sister… and if anything… happened.

She couldn't describe how empty she felt. Maybe the only one who could truly understand was Al… What was she searching for…? Why did she continue to journey so restlessly with her friend Riza? Why did she yearn to meet new people in hopes of filling that empty spot in her heart and mind. What was she aiming to achieve? Was running all she could do? Would finding Ed bring her that complete feeling she longed for? Or better yet… would causing all the trouble and uproar she had lately surely be enough to fill something inside her? She gripped her bag tighter and gazed ahead as she walked with fierce determination. Perhaps in the end… her will was all she had. She had learnt from one person that all she could do was look ahead, and he wasn't here to guide her now. Would she finally be the one to do something for him? To set him free finally?  
_  
A woman never runs away_

No matter how hard things got for her, she continued to press on. Why? How come? Why had she agreed to help Al? She couldn't show her weakness to anyone, not with this new image she had created for herself and been foolishly trapped in.

_A woman never shows her tears_

Maybe she knew how it felt for him finally. She couldn't cry now. What would that do for anything? What would that do for her incomplete life? What would that do for her broken friends? What would it do for her Amestris…? What would it do for Ed? She had searched beyond sight just to find him. She had looked where no others dared, and looked beyond the truth to discover horrible realities. But none brought her closer to him. They only brought her closer to all the scandal that was going on around her.

_A woman would not hide away._

And no matter how she longed to crawl into a corner and be forgotten. She wouldn't. She was a woman now; it was time to start acting like one. Why did stepping into the world of adults bring so much pain? Why did she lose so much innocence…? Is this what Ed and Al had been through…? Is this why Edward had become so hard inside? Was this the reason she couldn't feel anymore? Couldn't feel the breath of a man on her face, couldn't feel his gentle touch when he caressed her skin, couldn't feel his tender kiss upon her lips. Men. She could have her share of them if she wanted to. But maybe she just wasn't interested. Their love for her never felt real anyway. All she could see was darkness ahead whenever she experienced physical touch. It was over for her.

She leant up against the side of the building and shut her eyes with heavy breaths. _What was wrong with her?_ When you thought of terrible things such as the end of your life, you truly couldn't 

be sane anymore. She had seen some horrible things since the start of her journey. Things she believed could have been prevented if she was just that little bit stronger. If she had just managed to get herself together instead of standing in a corner and watching the terrible event take place with horrified tears in her wide blue eyes. So much death around her… she knew it was around Al as well. She couldn't help but feel she had failed Ed. Failed to protect his brother from the things Ed would have wanted him to stay away from. She had been weak back then, and now it was too late. But she wasn't going to let anything or anyone get the better of her again.

"Winry…? I thought you would be out here. The train is arriving soon… I was almost going to run and get you."

Winry turned her sweaty face to the young boy in front of her. She sighed and swiped the wet hair from her forehead. She had been lost in her thoughts again and cursed herself for acting that way in public. She tried to calm her breathing and straightened up.

"Right, sorry."

"Is something wrong?" Al squinted slightly as he watched the suspicious woman in front of him.

"I'm fine Al."

She looked away from him with slight embarrassment. She was never going to get used to him looking so much like him…

"So I will be getting off in central to discuss some issues with military members… that means that you will be left by yourself for a few stops." Al settled in his seat opposite Winry and watched as she gazed out over the scenery she was leaving behind once again.

"Okay"

"Winry, you haven't been thinking too much again have you?" Al removed his gloves and leaned forward with concern.

Meanwhile Winry smiled inwardly. _Here we have a boy so much younger than me, speaking wise words to me. _He had been forced to grow up much too fast. As had his brother before him. As had she.

"I'm not Al." She turned her head to him with a smile. "I get the plan. I can handle myself alone on a train." She giggled.

He looked away sheepishly. "I was just worried."

She turned back to her window gazing with a serene smile. It was just like Al to worry too much.

After Al had departed, she realised what a long lonely trip she had ahead, so voices continued to haunt her. They always asked the same thing. People she came into contact with, her grandma… military staff… all said the same thing when they had gotten sick of her fantasies.

_'Why do you want to find him so much?'_

She sunk lower in her chair at the thought of her reaction to that question every time. A blush and a frozen reason rested upon her. Every single time she asked herself the same thing. _Why do I want to find him? Could my promise to Al mean that much?_

_'He is a childhood friend…'_  


Although the answer seemed to satisfy her, it never seemed to satisfy them. Why would she give up so much of her life, time and sanity for her friend? It sounded terrible of course, but after two years she had gotten no-where… Even Al was believed crazy… and he was his brother. They had both risked their lives just to find him, people didn't understand that. They wanted to tell us to give up, that Edward was dead. Although she knew her loyalties lied with Edward, she too herself wanted to know why. She searched deep within herself for the reason behind her never faltering will to bring him back where he belonged. Did she truly think he could fill the gap? Did she want to prove to herself she could do more than just wait for him? Maybe she wanted that… to prove she was worth more than waiting.

To finally prove herself to him, would be the greatest achievement… and proving to Al that she could keep her promises. She promised to bring his brother home somehow. Ed wasn't dead… he wasn't gone. He was here somewhere… she could still feel his presence… because it was the strongest thing she knew. Ed wouldn't give up; somewhere he was struggling, and taking each day as it came, just as she was.

The rest of the week was a struggle for Winry. Doing chores for Izumi, helping out in the shop, playing with children to keep them entertained, so she could ultimately reach her goal. Izumi would make her work hard for even bringing Ed up in the conversation. Maybe deep down inside… Izumi blamed herself as well.

Although the week had been physically draining… it had been emotionally uplifting. Winry found herself truly smiling and laughing for the first time in two years. Being with down to earth people… being around almost family… and when she had finally managed to achieve her goal… Izumi had one thing to say.

_"Rose remembers being there with him! But she can't remember how to get there… Master… I just want to go there. I want to save Edward! Because he saved me!"_

Those were the final words that cracked Izumi Curtis. The location was revealed, and Winry would go there. She would go there with no fear inside her heart.

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Ed walked up the snow ridden path of Munich University. The snow had melted in most places, but it was still conveniently laid out in front of him wherever he walked.

_Are you trying to tell me something God?_

Various people waved to him as he turned the corner and made his way to the apartment blocks owned by the University, which were kept for Important Staff, which of course was his father.

Mostly lecturers who were good friends of his father and came to dinner frequently would call out and greet Edward, or students who knew him from his various works around the university. He had learnt his lesson quickly, to hide himself more appropriately when walking freely around the grounds. He didn't want to have to bump into the same person more than three times, because then he would risk the dangers of possibly having to go that step further and actually have a conversation with them. Then he might actually like them… and it would actually make living life in this place easier. He didn't want it to be easy; he didn't want to have any reasons to stay behind. He had to stay focused on the task ahead… and no-one was going to get in his way.

Edward tested the door to the place he was currently staying… it was only temporary of course. 

That's what he told himself every day. Once he discovered the door was definitely unlocked, he shoved the rusty key back into his pocket and opened the door with a sigh. He had to admit, it was good to be back here after the long journey. He could just flop down into bed and say goodbye to everything for ten hours.

"Edward"

Ed fell down onto the couch when he heard his father's voice. He could also smell the dinner he had boiling on the stove. He already knew what it was; it was the same every single night.

"We are having stew for dinner, so you can tell me about your trip when we eat."

Edward let his head fall down onto the back of the couch and tensed his good fist. The only thing _they_ were going to be talking about was why his father had felt the need to keep his acquaintances a little secret from him.

"I'm not hungry." Edward said with a low voice, sinking into the couch further. His father gave the pot one last stir and walked out into the living room with an amused expression.

"Did it not go well?"

"I'm just not hungry."

"Listen Edward, I know you are getting sick of not having a woman around to help cook. But with this inflation… this is all I can really do for now." Edward knew perfectly well, he heard those words from his father more than enough to memorise them. "How did your trip go?" Hohenheim sat down on the less than cushiony seat next to him with a sigh. "Ah… it's been a long day."

"Careful old man, your stew will over cook." Edward scoffed, crossing his legs angrily.

"I'll take it that means bad."

"I wonder if it would have been a little less frightening if I knew they were acquaintances of yours." Edward stood up angrily, searching for where he had placed his suitcase when he came in. He had been in such a hurry to get into the house...

"Oh, did I forget to tell you that?" Although Edward was now facing away from his father, he could definitely see the smirk on his face and hear the tone of humour in his voice. Edward could barely manage to stifle his words of profanity and began unpacking his suitcase violently. "Let's just say it's payback for what you did to me last week."

Edward turned on his heel and had faced his father within a second. "I told you that was an accident!" He yelled with protest. He was sick of his father constantly getting him back for that one mistake on his part. It was starting to annoy the daylights out of him.

"Was he of any help at all?"

Edward leant against the wall with a sigh. His messy ponytail flung out behind him and fell down over his shoulder. "He directed me somewhere else, I think it's going to turn out worthy of my time." Edward stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked to the middle of the room to stand in front of his father. "His name is Alphonso Heiderich and he is looking for partners to start a project on rocketry." Edward squinted as his father suddenly looked away; the expression on his face had told Edward he knew who he was talking about.

"He was once a student here… I knew of his plans… A bright young boy!" Hohenheim said with a 

barley audible voice. Ed focused on trying not to punch his dear old man's lights out and tensed his fists to calm himself.

"Why didn't you-"

"Edward," his father said flatly, bringing his hand up to place it on his son's shoulder, although Ed wasn't too happy about the situation, his father's voice suddenly reassured him that there was a good reason. "What do you think you would have done if I told you I had met your brother's counterpart?"

Ed focused on the question for a while and then sighed. "So he is after all…"

"Yes he is Edward, and it was hard enough for me to let him go. Do you know what could happen if you get attached to him? Do you want to start living in a dream Edward? I suggest you forget about Al, and concentrate on finding someone else to help your research."

His father's words bore into the back of his mind. But Edward knew himself better than that. "I won't let anyone distract me; this is my big chance old man." He wouldn't fall for another face, he had already met Winry's counterpart, and he had handled that quite well, apart from the complete shock of it all. "Speaking of which… have you been talking to a certain girl about me?" His father blinked with confusion. "Winry!" That should get his memory jogging a bit.

"Oh yes Winry, lovely girl, why don't you go out with her sometime?"

"Are you trying to match me up with girls again? How many times to I have to tell you? Besides, I can't go out with Winry… she is like…"

"Edward… this is a different girl we are talking about here." His father raised his eyebrow and somehow Edward had realised his father had won the battle. He was already referring to this girl… as that girl he had known his whole life and he had only just met her. "I just think it would be nice for you to talk to the opposite sex once in a while, they can provide some of that sanity you need. Besides, you might get over your fear of them, and actually have an intellectual conversation. Instead of all those _ummmms_ and _arrrrrs… _you do while conversing with one"

"I am not scared of them! Just not interested, why do I need to talk to women?" Edward blushed and crossed his arms over his chest with frustration.

His father got up from the couch with a yawn. "Why do you only mix with men? Are you trying to tell me something about your preference when it comes to males and females?"

"Shut up!" Edward wasn't used to all this talk, all this pressure from anyone. He had lived alone with someone younger than him for so long… and even when he was young, his mother's taunts about him and Winry went right over his head, she teased Al about it as well after all. Living with an adult was difficult… he had no idea how independent he was when it came to these things. And he certainly did not like being pressured into anything.

"Come on, you better eat something then head to bed if you are planning to visit Al tomorrow."

"How did you know?" Ed let his arms drop to the side, and followed his father with his eyes as he went about the kitchen.

"I would prefer you to rest up a bit. But knowing you, you won't. But if you plan on waiting, I have some paperwork I would like you to help me through." Edward's eyebrow twitched. He definitely wasn't staying now.

After his late dinner, Edward made his way to the small room which he slept in. His father's room was down the end of the hall and there was a guest room in front of Edward's, it barley got used anyway, so Edward used it to store most of his stuff so his father wouldn't scold him for having a dirty room.

He threw his coat down somewhere on the floor. The cold was slowly dying away, it wasn't completely necessary to wear it out in public now. But even in summer, Munich was colder than home, so he wore it anyway, especially when he wasn't used to this kind of cold.

He removed his vest and unbuttoned his shirt before falling down onto the bed with a thump. He was almost a sleep before he could even be bothered to remove the clothing, and shut his eyes eagerly.

It was these times at night he would wonder so vividly. What was his brother doing right now? Where was his brother right at this point in time? No matter how many times his father had told him he would have succeeded. Doubt was still in Edward's mind. Human transmutation was imperfect… there had to be something… He rolled over onto his side, and watched the night sky from his bedroom window. If it had gone perfect… why was there still doubt in his mind?

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Winry entered the old abandoned church in Lior. The town was starting to thrive again, after the parliament had recently commanded that the military stop taking control. A huge reason for that was what had happened with the stone… which Winry couldn't help but think had something to do with the two Elric brothers.

_  
It's going to start again… _She thought to herself as she approached the location with each proceeding step. No matter what, the people of Lior were all lost. They needed something to hold onto, they were all used to being told what to do, and yet thinking it was in their best interests. After all the research Winry had conducted on the town, she had discovered that one of the worst dictators this city had ever seen was Cornello, a priest who could apparently perform miracles. The one to put him in his place was the youngest state alchemist of all time, a boy called Edward Elric of course. Winry wondered if he would be proud that his name appeared in so many books that she had done research with… she was at least. Many books were published on the horrible rulers Lior had encountered… because Lior was a magnet for dictators.

After doing as she was instructed she began walking down the stairs. What she saw when she got to the bottom was a sight her two tired eyes could not believe without a second blink… an entire city?

"That's a lie…" She looked around to see if it was some kind of backdrop, but as she began walking through the city… she discovered that it was definitely no backdrop.

"Everything is so beautiful…" She couldn't help but touch the houses as she walked through. She had no fear of anyone suddenly jumping out at her. The city had an empty feeling, one she believed it'd had for years.

Everything was perfect… yet the building styles seemed to date to at least 150 years ago if not much longer.

"No way… it's going to take forever trying to find leads on Ed…" Her ears perked as she caught the last falling note of something. Music. She swung around instantly, afraid that there was someone 

behind her, only to realise the music got louder as she walked forward.

As she got closer to the sound of faded music Winry wondered how Al was going. Was he safe? Had he met up with those brothers? How long was it going to take for him to achieve his goal? She looked up with aggravation when she spotted the enormous building in which the music was coming from. However instead of jumping for joy she took a few angry steps forward with her heavy suitcase. She had just realized that she had forgotten where she was going to meet Al…

She continued to walk forward with doubt.

"There is no way he will think I went home…" How was she going to report any of this back to him? Not that there would be anything…

She jumped back against the wall when she spotted the woman in the middle of the room… two huge doors in front of her. Winry guessed that perhaps they went into another room… but that didn't explain the fact there was a golden light shining from them and the door itself was in the middle of the room. Actually, if she really looked at it… it looked like some… kind… of gate… no way. Sudden memories flung back into her mind, useless memories of Edward talking to his brother of such things as the gate. She never understood, what was the point in listening? When the woman's sharp eyes turned towards her, Winry wished she'd have listened more closely to Edward's words.

Trying to act casual… Winry took a few steps forward and placed a hand behind her back. _First show them that you are not a threat._

"If I may ask your name?" _Then treat them as if they were superior._ Winry gave a small smile and a slight bow.

"Dante."

Winry froze… _Izumi's master…?_ "I'm Win-"

"Yes I know." The sudden delightful grin that spread across the woman's face was wicked, and it caused Winry to take a few steps back. The first question was… how the hell did she know her name? "If you want to know, you are one of Edward's friends, are you not?" She turned back to the gate with a sigh. "It seems like I am saved for now."

Winry could do nothing but stand there and shake… the woman was plotting something, and when she reached out to grab her hand forcefully Winry fell forward onto the floor, crying out with agony as she fell onto her foot. She couldn't move it… she had sprained it. Winry spread out across the floor with terror as Dante squatted to give the girl an amused expression.

"What are you here for you stupid girl? You interrupted me, and now you will be used to my advantage. You are just another sacrifice for me"

"Ed won't let you get away with this!" Winry screamed back. The woman knew him… it was all she could think of. Edward would never let her get away with what she was about to do. Winry didn't know exactly… but she seemed to be a sacrifice for some alchemy purpose… since Dante had clapped her hands together. All Winry could think of was being devoured for the woman's desires, and held her eyes shut tightly.

"See, Winry, I need the stone and now... too bad that the only one who could make it in this pathetic world is now beyond the gate. I seriously thought I would have to go and get him myself, but sending you there should buy me some time."

_Al is looking for the stone!_ Winry gave a breath of relief that she hadn't discovered him yet. Winry 

looked up with fear, tears brimming in her eyes. She could feel the warmth of the woman's hands above her, ready to transmute. Where was she sending her?

"Give him back! You give Edward back! I promised his brother that I would return him."

"Pitiful! If you want him so much, I'll send you to where he is."

Winry closed her as she felt her body being devoured by some kind of warmth. Was she finally dying?

**Saturn Stars**


	3. Chapter 3

**Taken Away: **Chapter Three

Edward awoke from his barley satisfying sleep early in the morning. Nightmares about he and his brother's final moments together continued to haunt him in his restless sleep. What if the last thing his brother saw was Edward being killed right before his eyes? What if he had returned his brother to the world only for him to have that horrible memory of their last moment together burnt into his mind?

Edward sat up in his bed, the rising sun of the early morning began to carry his problems of night away. Another day was here now, another day he would have to get through step by step with some sort of strong resolve.

He wiped the sweat of his brow with a frustrated swipe of his left hand and threw the sheets off himself angrily. He hated how he could get himself into this state, but could never get himself out easily. The question always arose in his mind after one of these nightmares. _Had he been selfish? _

He threw himself against the nearest wall as he tried to gain his composure. His brother had given up his own life for him… and he had tried to bring him back, knowing well that was not what his brother really wanted. If he had failed to bring his brother back, he had wasted Al's own sacrifice and ended up in a foreign world.

He slid down the wall with sheer terror in his eyes. Flashes of the past in front of his eyes, memories from the past haunting him from the very depths of his mind. He didn't care if several obstacles on the wall scraped across his bare back as he slid to the floor slowly, honestly… could he even feel the physical pain anymore? The emotional was enough to break him down right to the core, how could anything physical compare.

Why did he feel so alone?

Why did he feel like he couldn't do anything without his brother?

Why? Why couldn't he do his best to press on in hopes of reaching him? Was he really that completely hopeless without Al?

It was times like these Edward could only curl up into a ball on the floor in hopes of battling his inner fears until he could once again stand. Today was a big day. He had to fight on, press on. He had to meet his brother again.

Hohenheim was busy in the kitchen making something you could say looked like breakfast when his son emerged in his sleep wear, a tired and weary look upon his face, a dull look to his eyes.

"Didn't sleep well again?" His father asked with worry, standing near the table with his hands in his pockets after placing his son's breakfast down on the table.

"I'll be fine." Edward sat down at the table half-heartedly, his elbow coming into contact with the surface with a thud as he began to pick at the contents in front of him. It was a ritual every morning, decide what you were going to eat and throw the rest in the bin once his father had left for the university. However when his father grabbed his suitcase and draped the coat over his arm, Ed looked up with surprise.

"I'm leaving early today; I have some things to do down at the university… Maybe Edward… you should stop blocking everyone out here, then you might sleep a bit better."

"I don't belong here, I don't want to live here, I can't stand anything about this place, the smell… the people, the everything. There is no way I could waste a life here."

"What if you never get the chance to go back? Are you going to live in a dream here all your life?"

"That's not an option."

His father sighed at his son's stubbornness and could do nothing but drop the conversation for now, they'd had it many times before anyway. "Well I will be going… I have some important issues 

to sort out."

"Like what?" Ed perked up slightly. Sometimes his father could be extremely secretive and now he knew what it felt like to have people keep secrets from him, and why people had always gotten upset when Ed kept secrets from them. Why did Winry come into his mind when he thought of that? Did he really keep that much from her?

"Just some marking I should get done." His father replied quickly, turning to the door and placing his hand on the knob. Edward couldn't help but feel the twinge of loneliness as his father's back turned. Besides… it was rather suspicious that he didn't want to mark in the comfort of his own home like he usually did.

"Can't you do that here?" Edward lifted his head from his hand which he was resting on to raise his eyebrow seriously at his suspicious father.

His father turned around slightly with a huge smile on his face. It caused Edward to fall right back to resting on his head with a grunt. "You want me to stay here with you?" Edward's suddenly angered face was enough to make the older man laugh hysterically. "Have a safe trip today." He closed the door behind him, leaving Edward alone.

After the ritual known as breakfast, Edward began the ritual known as dressing.

"Shit where the hell did I put the freaking thing?"

He jumped into his pants as he searched the house for his hair tie. He had more than one of course, but he had placed them all around the house because he was too lazy to just keep them all in one spot.

After searching under the couch and in between the seats he began buttoning up the white shirt he had thrown on quickly. He had to leave soon, dressing while looking for his hair tie was the only option. Before he even had time to finish buttoning up his shirt, there was a loud knock on the door. His curiosity as to who it could be at eight in the morning caused Edward to forget the current state he was in as he approached the door to answer.

"Hello, who is--"

The sudden look on the woman's face made him remember the state he was in almost right away and he stopped and stared as the woman chose to look him up and down before even trying to explain why she was here. _Crap, his shirt wasn't even buttoned up._ He coughed to try and clear the sudden tension his appearance had created and leant against the door frame.

"Can I help you?"

"You haven't forgotten me already have you?" She placed her hands together under her scarf. Edward noticed that she appeared to be quite dressed up due to the frightening temperature this morning had brought, another reason not to stand in the doorway with his shirt open. "Can I come in?" She asked boldly, a twinkle to her brown eyes.

"Well errr actually…" Before he had a chance to finish she had pushed past him into the slightly warmer house. He closed the door with a sigh and leant against it with a tired gaze. If his father ever found out he had a girl in the house… When he turned around he noticed her gazing in awe at him. _God help me. _

"Your hair is a lot longer than I thought… It's so rare for a man to have long hair yet keep it so neat."

"Ummmm, welll errr it's a childhood thing, I just can't cut it." He suddenly remembered what he was on a mission for and began looking around the room frantically again. "Not to mention find a freaking tie for it!" He turned his attention back to the confused girl and ran his hands through his hair. He hadn't even had a chance to find his hair tie and here she was in the room watching him as he searched for it like an idiot…

"Look, Winry, what are you doing here?"  


"You said I could visit you! I thought we could go out today and talk about what you're doing with your research at the moment.

"Uh sure…" He wasn't completely retarded, he knew when a girl was asking him out, and it only continued to freak the hell out of him, even at this age. He used the 'search for the hair tie' as an excuse to hide his blushing face from her.

"Ahah! Found you!" He pulled his hand out of the couch cushion and held the gold in his hand. _What the hell was it doing down there? Am I really that lazy?_ After tying his hair up with some trouble he realised what he would have to describe next to the young woman. "Yes, I have a mechanical arm." That would probably be enough to send her flying towards him, and he was right. _Just like her. _

She clung to his arm as he leant against the wall with a tired yawn. He was use to this; he had gotten it from almost all his father's acquaintances. It wasn't fully functionally at the moment, which was why he'd had to resort to ponytails recently. He took her absolute astonishment as a time to tell her his situation flatly, he didn't have time to take her out today.

"Winry, I'm kind of busy today… so can we make this another day?" _Or can we not make it at all? _

"Amazing, although it doesn't seem to be working as it should…" She furrowed her eyebrows and brought his hand closer to her eyes. _Just as I thought, she wasn't listening! _

His sudden aggravation faded when he finally realised what she had said. "What? How can you tell?"

"Give me a few days; I will see what I can do for it." GREAT! GREAT! GREAT! "So you are busy today? I should have known, you have a girlfriend don't you?" Edward flinched and pulled his arm away. Why did it always come back to that?

"NO! I'm going to meet someone who needs a research partner for rocketry." Her eyes began shining as she placed her hands together under her chin. _The childish sparkly eyes._ Edward grabbed his vest and coat from the table and finished dressing as she took the privilege to look around the house. After grabbing his suitcase he showed her out of the house with appreciation that she wasn't putting up a fight.

"Do you have classes today?" He questioned after locking the house up after him. She shook her head and waited for him to catch up with her.

"No, but I guess I could head to the university to do some study since you won't take me up on my offer."

"Right, I'll walk you then." Edward replied with a sigh of relief.

For most of the journey the two walked in silence, it was awkward for the woman. But for Edward however… in times like these he got into thoughts, deep thoughts. Winry couldn't help but notice how lonely Edward seemed, like he was crying out for human touch, love, care and affection. Who would be the one to give him the things he needed? Why did he chase after rocketry without another care in the world? Could he really live without human contact?

"I couldn't help but notice how lonely your eyes look…" Winry spoke up suddenly, causing Edward to turn his head and gaze upon her curiously.

"Oh, what gave you that idea?"

"I can just tell… I haven't really heard anything about your friends from your father… what are they like?"

Edward sunk his head with sudden conflict. What was he supposed to tell her? That his friends from Amestris were wonderful caring people? Because in reality they weren't here… but they were still his friends. As for friends in Germany… nil… When it took Edward long enough to answer the girl let out an all knowing sigh.  


"Do you mix with people Edward?"

"I really don't think that is any of your business…" Besides what he was doing here with this girl was against his code of conduct for relationships… just because she had a similar face… he found it so easy to slip into that trap his father had talked about… it would be even easier with Al.

"You're right, it's not! But maybe I just want to help you, just don't shut me out okay? Whatever it is that causes you to be like this… please just let it go." She stopped in front of the university, frowning when Edward took little notice of her rambling. He knew what this was from; his father had most likely had a conversation to her about him, that was it. He wasn't going to fall for anything his father had set up.

"Right okay, enjoy your study."

"I will, see you later Edward." She turned with a sort of sadness he couldn't help feeling guilty for causing. But he hated it when people tried to get into his business… even if she was just trying to help.

A long walk to Al's, a long time to think over things…

It was late in the afternoon when he reached the address he had been given by Oberth. He stood in front of Al's home, where he lived with his parents.

Edward found himself standing on the doorstep longer than he should have, gazing up at the humble abode in front of him. It was time to do a last minute check. He made sure his hair was in place and that his shirt was buttoned before reaching out a nervous hand to place a shaky knock on the door.

_Silence…_

He knocked again, however this time with more force than before. He had to be here, this journey wouldn't be for nothing! Some more time passed as Edward knocked without a second thought on the door, loud thumps against the door intruding into the depths of the very house where the mother and father of young Al heard them. It wasn't long till the mother ascended the stairs with worry to answer the desperate man on the other side of the door.

She stared blankly at the new face when she opened the door for a few seconds before smiling and placing her hand on the door knob.

"How can I help you?" She asked kindly, noticing slight desperation ease from his face. She couldn't believe how fiercely he had been knocking… but it was her fault for going down to her husband in the basement and leaving the house unoccupied after all.

"Does a man by the name of Al Heiderich live here?" Edward asked cautiously, careful not to impose himself on the woman, he desperately wanted to come in and take a look around.

"That would be my son… but why are you looking for him?"

"I heard he is looking for some people to work on a project with him?" Edward raised his eyebrows when the woman sighed with obvious frustration.

"Oh bother! He has been looking for people for so long, and when one shows up at our doorstep he isn't even here. I told him to stay here this week."

Edward felt himself sinking into the cement below him before she even had time to explain. "I am extremely sorry, he is visiting his sisters… please do come back next week." Of course he was going to come back! But that didn't say anything about the day he had wasted… "You haven't travelled from a long way have you? There are some cheap inns near by… if you have no money… I'm sure my husband wouldn't mi—"

Ed cut the woman off with a raise of his good left hand when he discovered where she was heading with the offer. He would have to stay somewhere. "It's quite fine… I'll be back next week 

then." The woman could easily hear the discouragement in the young man's voice. But what could Edward do? He should have known not to be so hasty as to leave as soon as he had gotten back without even making plans first. She hesitated to shut the door after he left. Watching him as he walked down the street with his head hung low.

"I really do hope he comes back…" She whispered to herself before closing the door quietly and returning to the dinner she had cooking on the stove.

Edward moved to the next thing on his mind rather quickly after the horrible unexpected incident had happened after all. Sure he could sulk about the happenings of today, but then his stomach wouldn't be satisfied either, and he definitely couldn't ignore how empty it felt at the moment, after a day of not stopping for even a drink.

He was relieved to find a small restaurant on the corner of Al's street. It was almost dark now and Edward was satisfied that it was also a pub; therefore it would be open till late in the night. The German's could drink.

He couldn't help but notice the _**help wanted **_sign as he sat down at the nearest table. He smirked to himself and ran his fingers through his hair. "Maybe I should consider… I'm low on cash." He laughed to himself, not noticing the waitress behind him. It really wasn't a laughing matter. His father was well off enough, but the jobs he did for him earned him little money, and he wasn't about to scab off anyone. Even if his father hadn't supported him for years.

"Oh! You could surely start here if you want, you're cute!" She came around to the front of him before he could turn around to acknowledge her presence. He laughed slightly and shook his head. _Edward in a waitress position?_ He would probably end up scaring the customers away… in times he was aggravated there was no way he could just continue to smile. Actually… how did they smile all night? He never understood the kind of will power these people must hold.

He opened his mouth in a gasp when his eyes reached her face. "Rose?"

"Huh? I'm Noah…" Edward took a second glance at the woman and realised that the resemblance was only slight anyway, and with a different name she surely couldn't be the woman he was thinking of, she sounded completely different. But he needed to think before speaking… he couldn't just go blurting out people's names like that.

"Uh Noah right, you just look like some-one I know. I'm Edward Elric…" She froze for a moment before he blinked. "What?"

"Uh… nothing, I just thought I had heard your last name before. But it's nothing."

"Actually my father-"

"It's nothing!" Edward let out a small smile at her denying and nodded.

"Right…"

"Your order?" He turned his attention back to the menu in front of him and quickly skimmed over what he had forgotten to read. Trying to shake off the fact that the woman now seemed a little cold towards him.

"Umm the special please." Edward replied, watching as the woman scribbled it down on the paper. There was something about her he couldn't place his finger on… Maybe it was the fact she had her hair done like one of the wandering gypsies he had seen around the place. But no matter what… there was something special around her… an aura; he couldn't put his finger on it. But her presence calmed and worried him at the same time.

"Great choice," she placed her hand on his shoulder with a playful wink. "and remember, if you ever want to work here, there is a spot for you, I love a man with long hair!" She gave his pony tail a flick before heading towards the counter, leaving Edward in his seat more than just a little confused. She must have been a gypsy.

There were so many different reactions from the people to his hair being so long. It wasn't the 

normal thing for a man to do in Germany. Many women thought the idea was weird; most men with long hair were poor and dirty, living on the streets. But Edward kept his neat and tied back, it had three extreme effects on the ladies. It would either completely turn them off, completely turn them on, or have them all over him trying to style his hair like he was a little girl. Women… Why did they have to exaggerate everything? No matter what happened, he wasn't going to cut it. He had grown up with it there… and he would return with it there.

After eating his meal, which had been a little too expensive for the taste, and having another little chat with Noah who had finished for the night and chosen to eat with him, Edward said goodbye to the woman, promising her that next time he was in the neighbourhood he would drop by for another meal with her. He hadn't known why he had felt so comfortable with her and allowed himself to open up a little.

The next thing on his agenda however was finding a place to sleep for the night…

He began walking up the street in the dark of air, streets lights were guiding him. This part of Munich was rather quiet at night… so naturally when he noticed a group of sniggering guys gathered around something in an alleyway he figured something was up.

When he got closer to the young men, he recognised a bunch of them from one of his father's classes. He perked a little… maybe they knew a place to stay. Stepping forward with slight intimidation at their sniggers… he raised his voice.

"Ummm?"

The guys instantly snapped their heads towards him as if they were about to attack… or protecting the territory like dogs or something, before one quickly stepped in front of… something that looked like woman and laughed nervously. "Edward!" Not everyone seemed to have the cheerful disposition Kris did, but he nudged them on nervously. "It's Professor Hohenheim's son…"

"Shit!" Some guy yelled from the crowd, Edward couldn't decipher who it was however and raised his eyebrow. He caught more whispers of covering something up before he started to get suspicious.

"Did I interrupt something…?"

"Uh ahaha, no…" It was then that Kris had moved slightly that Edward noticed the light blonde hair falling down to the ground behind him. One of the guys were holding onto a woman who was unconscious… Edward furrowed his eyebrows and took a step forward.

"What the hell are you guys intending to do with her?" He asked, pointing towards what they were hiding, seeing part of her pants were slightly ripped.

"Nothing… she just found her lying there and we were going to uh…"

"Step away from her." Edward said with a low snarl.

"Hell no!" Another larger guy in the crowd spoke up. Edward had grown, but this guy was a lot taller. He wasn't afraid though, he had tackled more than one man at a time in his younger age, and he could do it now if these guys even put one more filthy hand on the helpless girl.

"Shit man, just put her down okay, I heard he has a metal arm… and he is HIS son." A lot of the guys stepped away from the woman and proceeded to back away. However some began running when they noticed the complete and utter shock on the young Edward's face. The one holding her placed her down onto the ground and back away sheepishly.

"You know her…?" He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. But Edward couldn't hear, she was starting to open her eyes now, and he could see the slight bright blue as she tried desperately to keep them open. He felt like screaming, the only thing he could think of doing was covering her up.

"Yes I fucking know her!" Edward intended to get rid of them all, kill them actually, but had noticed that they had scattered with fear at the current expression on his face, his anger was 

probably enough to kill them. There was one left who apologised quickly before running into the night. Edward didn't have time to chase after those idiots. He picked the hair clip up from the ground which he figured was hers and glanced down at her blonde hair spread out across the ground with sadness…

"What are you doing here… Winry?"

He tried lifting her from the ground. He tried to stop thinking about how much she had matured into a woman. She murmured his brother's name as he lifted her, causing Edward to freeze. Why was she talking of his brother…? Had he returned…? Either way it made Edward's heart leap. She wouldn't be muttering his name unless she had seen him recently… right? He turned his attention back to her, noticing that her body felt like ice… how long had she been laying there?

"Al… I'm sorry…" Edward held her in his arms before wrapping his coat around her affectionately. The cold night air was chilling him to the bone, and he was glad he had gotten to Winry when he had. He didn't have time to worry about why she was whispering apologies to his brother and began running through the streets frantically. He couldn't shop around for the cheapest now, and although going home seemed like the best idea for her health, he wanted to get her into a warm bed as soon as he could.

He burst into the closest inn and slammed his hand down on the counter frantically. Begging the woman for a room was all he could do. The innkeeper appeared to be a calm lady who glanced towards the woman in his arms with worry.

"Oh my…"

"Please, I need to get her warm."

"Okay, here is a key to your room; run her a bath and I'll go get some warm clothes." Edward snatched the key from the woman with haste and opened the door shakily. Placing Winry down on the bed and throwing his coat over her for a blanket in the mean time. He ran to the bathroom and instantly began running a warm bath. They'd have to ease her into it otherwise she could catch a terrible cold.

The woman walked into his room with a warm dressing gown and nightgown for Winry and he sighed with relief. At least she would be warmer now… He glanced in her direction. Pants ripped… shirt ripped… he didn't want to think about what those men were going to do. But he would track them down one by one and make sure that they never went near another woman again.

"Well get her into that bath quickly." The woman's voice snapped him out of his troubled thoughts… and she had almost left the room when Edward voiced his concern.

"Wait…!"

She took a few steps back towards him and raised her eyebrow. "You ran the bath right?"

"Right, now what?" He folded his arms over his chest, looking down at Winry. He was prepared to do anything to get her better and he returned his determined gaze back to the woman. Whatever he needed to do, he would do it.

"Well…" She placed her hands over her chest and sighed. "You would undress her and put her into the bath, make sure you watch over her though, if she is unconscious we don't want her slipping under…"

_Okay… except that! _Edward felt his face blush the darkest shade of red it ever had.

"Ww-w-w-w-winry… na-naked…? Me? U-n-dr-dres-s-s her? N-n-ooo you don't understand."

"What? Are you afraid of the woman's body?" She placed her hands on her hips and frowned. _He didn't want to think about how many times she would punch him for doing something like that to her!_

"Are you kidding? She would KILL ME!"  


"So you're not together then?"

"NO!"

"Alright… I guess… I can help you then, but I'm going to charge you for all this trouble."

Edward sighed and fell down onto the bed as the woman helped the semi-conscious girl into the bathroom and shut the door. Relief had washed over him; money seemed to be the least of his troubles right now.

Winry was in Germany… he hadn't had time to think about it before… but it wasn't good. She couldn't be here… she shouldn't have to be here… oh god why was she here?

Edward tapped his fingers on the desk nearby as he waited… and waited… and waited…

Finally Winry emerged with the woman… eyes still tired and sleepy. She looked in Edward's direction but he didn't manage to hold her gaze for long before the woman placed her into the bed. Edward looked up at the older woman with gratitude after his eyes had rested upon Winry with worry long enough.

"I am so thankful, thankyou so much for this kindness… I'm Edward Elric" The woman beamed and handed Edward some more blankets.

"Anya Anders, pleasure to meet you." Edward stood up and shook her hand with appreciation.

"How was she?"

"Fine, slipping in and out of consciousness…"

"Oh…" Edward once again looked in her direction, watching as she slept peacefully… even if she was rugged up he couldn't help but notice how she was shivering in her sleep.

"I know you aren't seeing each other… but you should really try to give her some body warmth… I'm sure she wouldn't mind from the way she kept calling out for you." The woman laughed at the look on Edward's face and placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Even if she does get angry, it's better than her becoming hypothermic…"

"I guess you're right…"

"Well… I'll be back in the morning with breakfast to check up on her. I'll also go buy her some medicine."

"Thankyou so much." Edward bowed politely to the woman and locked the bedroom door behind her. He wasn't used to so much kindness… No matter where he went in Germany, he was always treated with respect and kindness… Yet he still believed that earth humans were terrible people he didn't want to mix with? Why couldn't he just learn to accept them?

He leant against the door with a relieved sigh. Finding that just looking upon Winry's calm face would make him sigh again. So much had happened today…

"Edward…?"

He looked over towards Winry to see her eyes were slightly open. Good. I can explain why I will be… sleeping… with her… S-s-le-lepeing with her? Sleeping with her! _OH MY GOD! SLEEPING WITH WINRY?_

He wanted to tear his hair out at the thought of it but smiled gently at the dazed girl. _I can't believe I have to do this… _He hoped he didn't have nightmares about this night for the rest of his years…

He wasn't going to bother getting undressed; he was much too worried about her. He slipped his shoes off and crawled under the covers after turning the lights off.  


"Winry… you're cold… I have to keep you warm. I'm not a rapist or a molester okay?" He waited till she made some noise of acknowledgement and wrapped his arms around the fragile girl and pulled her body closer to his with some trouble. "I can't believe I'm doing this…"

Winry didn't seem to mind though; she just settled into his embrace and sighed slightly, relaxing her body. _Then again! She was unconscious! He wasn't! And this wasn't okay! _Edward moved some hair out of her face, watching her with concern. He would try to stay awake tonight, just in case anything happened with her… after all he'd had some pretty hard times adjusting to this world. He had been in bed sick for almost a week.

"Winry… why have you also been taken away…?"

**Saturn Stars**


	4. Chapter 4

**Taken Away: **Chapter Four

Winry lifted her heavy eyelids. The bright light was much to dazzling for her after having been in darkness for a number of long hours and she shut them tightly, slightly hissing from the pain. A few moments later she tried again, slow lying, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

She was in a very white room, and for a couple of moments that seemed completely normal. That was until she realised that the white room she had been greeted by in her waking was all too unfamiliar.

'_I'm just dreaming.' _She thought to herself as she shut her eyes again, giving into the tiredness her body, and stinging eyes possessed. Her mind was blank of any thought. She couldn't remember how she had gotten into this bed. She couldn't remember when she had even gone to sleep… She really couldn't remember much at all, and was content in lying in this blissful warmth of the bed.

The room was dark, and apart from the one sunbeam shining directly into her eyes; it was still early morning as the sun seemed to be in the middle of struggling to finally rise for the day. Winry sunk even lower under the covers after realising her face and cheeks were like ice, and underneath the blankets was somewhere she could easily warm them.

"Mmmm electric blanket…" She muttered in her half asleep state, rolling over to dig her chest into something incredibly warm. "I knew all the fiddling around with the mechanics of it was a good thing, especially when I got it to this perfect temperature…" Her eyes suddenly snapped open when she realised the heavy weight on her waist. She found her arm lying somewhere nearby… or rather over someone else's waist. She then ran her fingers down what was unmistakably an arm. She still had the faintest idea that she was dreaming, but when the person muttered something next to her, she realised that she was living in reality.

"That tickles… stop… Winry…" A deep voice muttered lazily. She turned her attention from his arm to his face and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"WHAT?" She sat up hastily, only to discover how incredibly freezing the room was. It was like she was literally inside some type of freezer. She had never felt anything like it in her entire life. After experiencing the cold chill against her body it hadn't taken her long to dive back down under the covers again without a second thought. His arm was still pinning her down anyway with gentle care.

She tried to squirm out of his embrace, only to once again discover any other part of the bed was like some type fridge as well. So she moved as close to him as she possibly could without touching, to steal some of that warmth they had created. By now he was opening his eyes, obviously woken by her screams and squirms. She looked him directly in the face to see his reaction was much the same as hers.

"WINRY?" He jumped out of the bed and looked around frantically… "WHERE THE… Why are you in my bed…?" He trailed off for a second when he noticed the expression on her face… she was looking at him as if he was some type of ghost. Now that he had opened his eyes, Winry had discovered who exactly she had been staring in the face just a few seconds ago. Edward began to remember last night's events slowly and sighed as he ran his fingers through his tangled hair. She was going to take this badly for the first time…

Winry had now sat up, pulling the covers right up around her neck to preserve that warmth underneath.

"Winry… I'm so glad you're alright… I was up half the night worrying about you!"

"STAY AWAY!"

Edward took a shocked step backwards at her warning, cautious as to how he should approach her. She was probably angry about the fact they were sleeping in the same bed… hell that was pretty stupid of him on his part, and he looked down at the terrified girl with guilt. "Winry… it was cold, I had to keep you warm… I'm sorry."

"NO, NO!"

He sat down at the edge of the bed with an exhausted sigh. "Winry…"

"STOP IT! YOU'RE NOT HIM!"

"Huh?" He turned to face her with a look that told her she was _overreacting_. "Winry, you have a lot to get used to, and I don't know if you are going to take it very well… I don't know how you ended up on this side of the gate but…" He stopped his words upon noticing her reaction to them. It was too early to be bringing up memories she probably didn't want to remember. She had to focus on getting used to this world before Edward even tried to drag some sort of understanding out of her mind. Either way, it was going to be hard for her to have to deal with emotional trauma, and physical pain at the same time.

The sudden words 'Gate' caused Winry's memories to come flooding back to her brain rather unwelcomed. She placed her hands over her ears as the piercing screams from inside returned to her brain. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly when visions of this world's past and future flashed through her mind like millions of words being packed into her brain at an amazing speed. She let out a terrified scream and curled herself into a ball.

Edward scampered across the bed to her aid, frantically. Placing two hands on her shoulders to try and shake her out of what he had caused her to go into. When she only began to cry with frustrated tears he could do nothing but rock her gently, wrapping his arms around her tiny frame for support and comfort. He was going to be here for her, to help her through something he had experienced… that's the least he could do for her having to live in this place.

"Sshh" He rubbed his hands over her back with gentle care and whispered to her tenderly, as her series of sharp screams turned into hushed sobs against his chest. He had experienced the same thing, and he knew what it had felt like to have his father gently rest him back to reality… the horrible reality he had to live in. He didn't want to have to tell Winry anything… and he didn't want to ask her anything. He would have to wonder in silence as to why she was here so he didn't send the girl to the brink of insanity.

"Edward…" She grabbed onto his dress shirt that he hadn't bothered to remove last night, slowly coming back to her senses she tried to meet his gaze. "Edward… I missed you so much." She wrapped her arms around his waist and dug her head into his chest with more tears. "I know that I was sent somewhere. Now Al is alone… I can't bear the thought."

"A-al?" Edward stuttered, hoping Winry would ease his one and only doubt.

"He misses you too Edward, we all miss you! You are such a jerk going off like that!"

"Al's alive…?"

"Of course!" Winry slapped his arm with force… which wasn't much considering her weak state. "He has gone off the rail! He even dresses like you to get information." Edward smirked as Winry wept into his chest. Nothing else seemed to matter, apart from her of course… but nothing else mattered… his brother was alive. He could continue to walk forward with hope that they would be reunited. "But Edward… Al is twelve." She had forgotten to tell him the horrible facts and felt awful as Edward's bright smile faded into lost hope.

"Al is seventeen…" he reminded.

"We found him as a ten year old boy, Edward, I have been taking care of him… but he just ran away with that Mustang… and who knows…"

"I'm glad…" Winry looked up as Edward's eyes gazed out over the room distantly. Winry frowned at his words. _He was glad his brother was twelve? _"That he doesn't have those horrible memories of our last moments together… that he hasn't lost all that innocence I caused him to loose on our journey…"

"Ed…" He hushed her again, letting her head fall against his chest. "We have all been looking for you…" She closed her eyes, trying to forget what had just gone through her mind a moment ago. Edward was here, she wasn't alone.

"And I…" She grabbed another fistful of Edward's white shirt in an attempt to hold back more tears. "Promised Al I would bring you back to him, oh please, don't say I have failed." Edward became worried again when Winry returned to her crying against his chest. If she didn't get some rest and forget for a while, her recovery was going to be extremely difficult. This was the last thing he wanted for her.

He suddenly broke free from his thoughts and gave Winry a worried glance.

"Winry, you are going to be sick if you try moving around a lot. You have to rest till you can get used to the way things are in this world.

Number one: your senses are lowered, you won't feel as much or see things as colourful. You won't be able to taste food as well, everything will seem bland. Don't complain to me because I can't do anything about it, I have gone through the same thing as you." Winry listened to his words carefully and pulled herself closer to shield herself from the cold. "Number two: It's extremely cold as you have noticed; it is most of the year actually. And if you don't go about rugging up your going to get sick till you can get used to this weather."

"But Edward…" She ran her fingers over his cheek lightly to experiment. If what he was saying was true, then why?

His cheeks flushed red as her finger tips brushed his smooth skin. "Are you checking to see if I am real or something?" He looked away as she continued testing each one of her fingers against his skin, and what it felt like.

"When I touch you it feels the same, and you look the same. But you stand out so much against this room." Edward was also beginning to notice, it had been slightly the same with his father, his father also looked bright, and whenever he and his father touched it was just like from back home. However with Winry it was more so, perhaps because she wasn't going to accept her fate in this world like his father had. Winry was colourful; her eyes shone bright blue and stood out from the dulled colours around him. Her fingertips on his skin felt like what a touch would have felt like in Amestris. When someone touched him in this place, it was barely enough to make him look in their direction. The touches in this world from people didn't tingle his skin, didn't bring that flush of red to his cheeks that a touch normally would. "

Your eyes are still that bright gold I remember…"

"It must be because we are both from back there."

"I can't really see that much colour anywhere else, but it is a bland room." She added thoughtfully.

"That's how they see in this world; it's nothing like back home." He was getting distracted by the glow of her eyes and hair, he wasn't used to seeing something so colourful. He hadn't seen something so beautiful for two years.

"Oh…" She pulled her hands away and brushed them over the material of the sheets. "I see…" She turned her head with slight anger. Maybe she had started to notice how different her senses where going to seem in this world, and how hard it was to cope with the loss of what they had in their heaven.

"Winry, I know it's hard." He was watching the realisation slowly take over her blue orbs with concern. The same that had struck him, the cold hard truth, the harsh reality.

"I'm tired…" She cut him off before he could start trying to baby her again, and began lying back down onto the bed.

"Of course," he looked at the watch in his pocket and gazed over the time. "It's only five in the morning." He watched her roll her eyes and pull herself further under the covers. He moved off the bed to make room for her and gazed around the room sadly. She was becoming cold, like he had. 

It was the first step of the realisation, the part where you blocked everyone out that was trying to help. Maybe he still did that…

"Edward?" He turned his attention back to her as she called his name. "I'm cold." He instantly grabbed the extra blankets the woman had given him the night before and covered her with them quickly.

"Better?"

"Yeah, thanks. Not that it compares to when you were sleeping with me." What he had chosen to do really didn't seem to satisfy her. But there was nothing else he could do for her. Germany was cold this time of year, and Winry was going to have to get used to it some way or another. He couldn't sleep with her every night just because she was cold. Things didn't work that way. It was just like Winry to expect him to baby her…

He climbed onto the couch in the room with a thin blanket in hand and sighed. He didn't mind, he could freeze as long as she was warm.

The soft knocking sound that ran into Edward's dreams were the very sounds that awoke him with a shock. Kicking the thin blanket off himself as the sharp cold bite to the air once again consumed him in his awoken state; he turned to face the door.

Edward jumped off the couch in a hurry to get to the entrance, wondering how long he had been sleeping. He glanced over at Winry before his fingers met the cold metal of the door knob, to see she was still in blissful slumber.

"Good morning Mr. Elric." It didn't take long for Edward to realise who he was facing. The kind woman who could have very well been the reason Winry was breathing so peacefully this morning, the woman who had extended them both a helping hand and who was now extending a tray full of food. He could do nothing but stare at it blankly, as if it was all too much to ask for, or too much for his pocket to handle.

"Now, here is some warm soup for her to drink, but make sure she also eats the solids. She may not be up for it, but it's very important!" Edward nodded with agreement as the woman continued, noticing there was also a nice home cooked breakfast for himself on the tray. "See this bottle?" She held up the tiny bottle in front of Edward's eyes, making sure he took it in. "This is to have _before." _She then picked up the second bottle and separated the two on separate ends of the tray so he wouldn't get them confused. "And that's to have after the meal. They're mixes from my own natural healing herbs. They will do her a lot of good and help to prevent anything she may be coming down with." She held out the tray for him to take with a large smile. So Edward did what he could and held out his arms to carry the large meal.

"I really don't know what to say…"

"It's fine. That girl needs help and has a good soul, take care of her." The woman winked as she shut the door. Edward wondered if she had ended their conversation abruptly due to the fact he was busy, or too avoid him feeling over spoilt or guilty.

He called her name quietly as he tiptoed across the room, trying to hold the plate still. His shivering from the cold was doing nothing to help him balance anything. When his quiet attempts at calling her name did still not cause her to move, he sat down on the bed with a sigh.

"Winry, I have breakfast for you." He placed the tray down on the bedside table and shook her gently. _Why did he have to be the one to baby her? _Actually, his dad had probably thought the same about him. When Winry began to sit up Edward could already feel the fear rising. It's like he had this connection with her, it's like he was looking at himself just trying to adjust two years ago. And he could just predict what trouble he was going to have with getting her to eat this foreign food. He was glad it was mostly warm soup and bread. Perhaps… he could get her to eat something.

"Mmm…" She rubbed her eyes as she settled herself against the back of the bed and tried to take her surroundings in. "Why did you wake me up? I was having such a nice dream." She finally let 

her hands fall down at her sides with a tired gaze. She met Edwards gaze only to be met with his trademark flat look. He picked up the tray and placed it upon her lap gently.

"Breakfast"

Winry glanced at the food in front of her with wide eyes. She turned her eyes back to Edward sharply. "Did you do this for me?" He scoffed at her comment and shook his head.

"No way, the inn keeper did." Winry rolled her eyes at his rude reply. _He didn't have to go that far. _

"A jerk as always I see…" She didn't have time to put up with his smart remarks at the moment, just as he didn't have time to put up with her moodiness. Although she was overwhelmed to see him, and he was definitely overwhelmed with relief that she was okay, she wasn't feeling like the best of buddies towards him at the moment.

"Before we start fighting Winry, can you please just try eating?" She sighed and dipped the food into the soup before Edward let out a panicked gasp. He grabbed her hand and halted the bread from entering her mouth. She could do nothing but give him an unimpressed look.

"What? Is the bread _yours _or something?" Winry asked with sarcastically as he grasped her wrist tightly, turning his attention to a bottle at the far end of the tray. "Honestly, ask me to eat when I'm not even hungry then stop me! I swear—"

"Winry, you have to drink that bottle first. It's to prevent any colds. After the meal drink the other one." Winry eyed the bottle suspiciously before eyeing Edward's grip on her wrist with equal suspicion.

"And do you have to have a death grip on my wrist while I do this?" Winry spat, causing Edward to release her with guilt. After observing Edward's apologetic expression Winry sighed. _I shouldn't be so hard on him… its no-ones fault I am like this… he probably saved me. As usual… _Although the thought had meant to calm her down sufficiently, it only caused her to tense her fists with upcoming anger. He had saved her again; she was the damsel in distress _again. _And she had been trying to bring _him _back.

"Are you okay Winry…?" He watched as she tensed, grasping the sheets with fierce frustration and frowned. What on earth was running through her head? He wanted to know.

"You just hurt me, that's all." She used as an excuse as she steadied herself to open the bottle in front of her. After opening the lid she watched as Edward's hand slapped down onto his knee. This hadn't been the first time she had noticed the horrific state his auto-mail was in. It was so badly built that he could barely move it. She was too weak to nag him about it right now, it wasn't the right time. They had to at least try avoiding any fighting within the first twenty-four hours of their reunion. But Winry wondered if that was really possible… what with all he stubbornness and stupid comments. He was just asking for trouble with her.

"I'm sorry Winry. I guess I missed you. I'm just really worried about you, so please eat okay?" He raised his head with a forced smile that caused Winry to shiver slightly. _Since when…? _

She diverted her confused eyes back to the bottle before downing it quickly. The next couple minutes had been frustrating on both their parts. She swore deep down that she wasn't trying to annoy him, but she just wasn't hungry, and the food did nothing for her tastebuds.

"I'm really just not hungry." She told him as he watched her from his relaxed position chew on that piece of bread she had been trying to get through for half an hour. He was just about ready to strangle her. He fell down on the bed and rested his head on his hand with a sigh.

"Winry, you have to eat! I know you have lost your appetite… look I went through the exact same thing. But you have to eat to maintain your strength otherwise I will have to shove it down your throat!" He had already finished his meal not too long ago and his plates lay stacked on the table.

"But Edwarddddddddddddddddd"

"No"

"Eddddd… I promise I will eat later… I just don't feel too well at the moment." Okay so she lied, and okay, so he could tell when she was lying.

"Eat it."

"Since when did you tell me what to do?"

"Since I found you out on the streets almost frozen over and tried to nurse you back to health!"

"Oh please, stop complaining about it you baby!" It was that second Winry had discovered the clothes she was wearing. Her hair smelt fresh and she had definitely been bathed between the times she had fell unconscious and woken up. She turned her attention to her clothing bundled at the end of the bed and placed the food down on the bed with her eyes clenched shut.

_Calm down Winry…_

_Maybe he didn't do it…_

_But who the else would bathe me?  
_

_What if…_

_I bet he did something that PERVERT!_

Winry exhaled shakily as she tried to control her surging anger.

"WINRY! Don't put it down and think you're going to get out of this." Edward tensed his relaxed expression slightly when Winry's eyes turned to slits that shot daggers at him… literally… "Uhh…"

"What did you do to me Edward?" Winry raised her fist and pulled him close by his shirt.

"W-w-w-what do you mean?"

"Where do you put your hands you dirty… gah! I can't even look at you! Since when did I give permission for you to bathe me? Or even touch me for that matter!"

"Winry… look…" He raised his hands in the air as he noticed her patience was running thing. "I swear…"

"Oh my… I'm sorry if I interrupted you two…" Edward sighed with relief as his eyes fell to the inn keeper standing at the end of the bed. "The door was unlocked so I…"

"Oh no Miss, you're not interrupting…" Winry's evil gaze once again returned to Edward. "Just in time to witness the death of this pervert!"

"Winry! I swear I didn't even touch you! This lady bathed you!" Winry dropped Edward back down onto the bed as the woman's nod confirmed his words.

"Right…" She tried to hide her embarrassment and took a piece of bread to eat to take the attention off her… shameful mistake.

"That's right… Miss Winry I believe? Are you enjoying my meal?" She looked at the contents of the soup and sighed. "It's been a while now, the soup won't be hot. It was meant to help you warm inside." Winry suddenly felt incredibly selfish, or childish. This woman had prepared a meal to help her and she had wanted to throw it down the toilet to spite Edward a second ago.

"I'm so sorry." Winry bowed slightly. "I'm just feeling a little sick at the moment." Edward rolled his eyes and stood up from the bed.

"Will you be staying tonight as well?" She looked towards Edward's direction as he stood up. Winry tried to down the soup quickly as they talked.

"No, I would like to get back home as soon as possible; I have some stuff to discuss with someone."

"Well, I will have to ask you to check out soon then. It's almost ten and we have people waiting."

Edward nodded agreeing looking towards Winry with worry. "I was wondering if this inn has its own travel service? It is about a day's journey to home and I am really worried about her." Winry lowered her bowl as Edward said this and watched him with distant eyes.

"I'll see what my husband can do. We will have to charge you of course." Edward sighed as she said this and checked his pockets instinctively.

"Is there anything I can do to lower the price slightly? I could come back and work for a few hours perhaps. I am just really short on cash after yesterday." Winry placed her bowl down with sudden shame. _He was broke… and offering to spend more money for her sake? _Just as she opened her mouth to speak Edward held out his hand in protest, he knew her too well.

"No Winry, you aren't walking."

"Don't worry about me; really, I will be fine." She stood up from the bed and placed her hands on her hips to prove her point. But of course he was ignoring her and discussing money with the woman.

"I suppose there is a discount involved for you, considering the circumstances." The woman waved her hand with a small laugh as Edward complimented her on her kindness.

_Edward had become smooth with women? Since when?_

Winry watched with intrigue as the older lady blushed when he spoke. _Well I guess he is much taller now…_ Winry continued to stare at him with bewilderment; she tried to study him to see what was so great about him, what he had gained in these two years of separation, and shook her head as a spark of attraction towards him flickered within her. Really… she was being stupid. He was just Edward.

"Oh really, I have to take Winry shopping for some new clothes as well!" Edward sighed.

"I might have some things she can wear, my daughter doesn't live here anymore and it should be a perfect fit!"

"Oh really? You're really too kind. How can I ever repay you?"

"Oh-ho! Don't be silly!"

Winry rolled her eyes as the conversation finished up. She was now apparently waiting for the woman to return with some clothes for her. Edward had rushed out of the room to go somewhere to fix up his bill for the night in the room. Winry had found her hairclip and placed her hair up on the back of her head when the woman returned with a pile of her daughters clothes. It didn't take long for Winry to find something… no matter how disgusting it looked to her; it fit her best and was the most practical for the weather. A long flowing skirt with a comfortable jumper and scarf. She then chose a long woman's coat to wear over the top and sighed as she felt the cold slowly dissolve away from her heavily clothed figure.

"Winry you really are beautiful!" The woman toyed with her hair a little and fixed the glitches Winry had overlooked with a satisfied smile. "It's a rare sight to see someone as beautiful as you." Winry soaked up the compliment and thanked the woman for the clothes who had now packed them into bags… Just because she had a bag full of clothes now, didn't mean she wasn't dragging Edward for a day of shopping for a new wardrobe. This woman obviously had no taste… little did she know…

Edward entered the room with a frustrated sigh. "All my money is gone…" He trailed off as he caught sight of the extremely rugged up woman before him and couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked. "That looks really cute, Winry."

"It's horrible, Edward."

Edward decided not to take the conversation any further.

After packing the items around the room, that Edward had managed to scatter in various corners and positions, into a bag, he stood in front of Winry with a stupid smile plastered on his face.

Sure the question still remained, why was she here? Sure the reality remained that she was in fact here. But she seemed to be ignoring this truth for now, as was he. But did she think she was just going to wake up from this horrible dream like he had once thought? Did she really think everything would be okay? The way she was currently standing in front of him with that false smile, that mask that shielded her true feelings, the mask that shielded what she was really feeling from him.

He was about to speak up and lead her out of the room to the car that was waiting when she spoke up.

"I've noticed your auto-mail is a complete mess."

Ed looked down at the brown metal that had certainly passed it's used by date.

"That's what I get for trying to make it myself I guess…" He sighed, keeping his eye on the hand his coat would soon cover.

"You did that yourself…?" Winry asked with disbelief. It was hard to believe in a time of need he had tried to make auto-mail. It made her feel special for some reason. Maybe all those times she had blabbed on about how they worked he really _had _been listening.

"Well uh… kinda I guess. Dad did most of it. He knew from spending so many nights with your Grandma and drinking. I really didn't help much."

She felt something snap. What was she thinking? _Edward listening to her?_ There would never be such a day. She _was_ going to boost his confidence a little and comment on his height and how he had really grown into a man. But after discovering he was still just an immature child on the inside she really couldn't be bothered with it. Instead she decided to ask another question… something that had been bothering her since she had woken up.

"You live with your father don't you?" She asked, following him as he stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him.

"Yeah…"

Winry smiled inwardly as they walked out of the building and entered the car. "I never thought I'd see the day." She whispered to herself.

Edward had actually held the door open for her in which Winry had stood their confused and had said. "Why are you standing there like an idiot?"

Ed had cocked his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows. "Ladies first" He replied matter of factly. Yes it was very true that ladies were first, but since when had Edward acknowledged that? Maybe this society had done some good for Edward after all.

"Right Edward… and since when were you a gentleman that held the door open for a lady?" Winry scoffed, entering the car only to have a smirking Edward enter after her and shut the door behind him. He turned to her a grinned.

"Since I had a beautiful lady to open the door for?" Edward said smoothly, leaning forward to give directions to the man who was going to drive them to Edward's home. Although the comment was 

enough to make her blush, it was enough to make her blood boil and hit him across the back of the head with insult.

"So you're just admitting I wasn't a beautiful lady before?" Edward turned to look at her in the back seat with shock, his hand over the place she had hit.

"Gah! No Winry!"

"I'll have you know that a lot of men think I am a beautiful lady! And I was with a lot of handsome men back in Amestris! Now I have to come here to this!"

"Well good for them! I hope they knew that they were with a freaking psycho who bashes men up for no reason!" Edward fell back into the seat with a sigh. "I was just trying to cheer you up; I guess I just won't talk to you then." Edward huffed, crossing his arms over his chest to rest his case. This did nothing to calm Winry though, and Edward could have guessed what her next complaint would be.

"So I'm some poor girl you feel sorry for? Or in better words a 'psycho' you feel sorry for!" Winry tensed her fists. "When will that end! I don't need your sympathy! I DON'T NEED YOU TO RESCUE ME ANYMORE!" The man driving glanced back into the seat to see if everything was going alright, in which Edward flashed him a cold glare, telling him to mind his own business.

Edward sighed with boredom and leant against the window with a tired yawn. He couldn't wait to get home and shut himself in his room. His father could deal with her.

"Hey Edward, are you listening to me?"

He snapped out of his dream and paid attention to the woman now slapping his arm viciously to try and get his attention. "Uh… huh… oh yeah sure Winry." He yawned again and rested his head against the back seat.

"You haven't changed at all have you?" She opened her mouth with utter mortification.

"You haven't either."

"I was never the one who needed to mature and stop acting like a child!" She retorted.

"Yes, Winry… I think it's best if we don't talk to each other for the time being. I kind of want to live at the moment."

"Fine jerk." Winry huffed with annoyance, crossing her legs with anger.

After losing someone to fight with, Winry had turned her attention to the streets outside her, the scenery that passed them on their way. Why did it all look the same? Why was it the same grey wet street after the same grey wet street? Where was the life? Why was everything so dull? She found herself fascinated by it, if not somewhat depressed. She pressed her nose against the window, her fingers either side of her head, pressed to the glass with utter craving. Her insides were clawing at her; she had to find out where she was, how she got here and how to get home. She couldn't spend her days in this place.

Edward could almost sense the panic within her and sighed. "Winry, this is Munich."

"Is the place we are going a little livelier? Are there people lying dead on the streets where we are going?"

"They aren't dead Winry, they are homeless. And no, where we are going is the same."

"But no… I don't want to be in a place like this. Can't we go somewhere else?" Winry asked with desperation, turning to look at Edward who sat calmly in the back seat.

"I will get us home for sure Winry; we won't have to be here long. I promise." He looked out the window himself after saying those words. The last thing he wanted was for her to have to go through this. It was his fault she was here… and he was going to get her home.

Winry returned to gazing out the window, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sure it was amazing… one shade of grey swirled into the next, blending together. It created a swirl of massive grey, something her eyes couldn't even comprehend. Then she would look over at him again, his blonde hair, his gold eyes, his skin glowing with life. She might've got hooked on looking at him, no wonder she had caught his gaze in her direction more than once. Why was he the only one…? Winry turned, she could see faint colour on people. But nothing like the colour should be. She could even feel the cold in this car, but that didn't mean it hit her like it use to. It felt like her body was numb to everything. Could she ever get use to this? Had Edward… already accepted it?

Reaching their destination was a long trip in the car, a long time to think for both of them.

Edward helped Winry out of the car, realising that she had become a bit light-headed. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and helped her into the house. Why wouldn't the world stop spinning for her? The man that had kindly transported them home, helped with their bags into the house, Edward's father there to greet him and take the weight off him. After a long thank you, and Hohenheim paying the driver the money Edward had failed to give him through sudden bankruptcy. Winry was placed down on the couch gently.

"Why are you here?" Edward asked grumpily, arranging his bags in a neat pile.

"I decided to stay home and do some reading… it is Sunday after all."

His father was at university on most Sundays as well. But Edward couldn't be bothered to bring that little fact up.

"Seems like you picked up a treasure on the way…" Winry rolled her head towards Hohenheim with a serene smile.

"Dad… someone sent her… through…"

"Dante. She sent you through didn't she?" His father ignored Edward's comment and turned to Winry. Edward groaned without appreciation of his father's abrupt comment. _Sure dad… who else would send her through but that centuries old pathetic excuse for a woman?_

"Dad! I don't think she is really in the condition to talk about that now! Just leave her alone!" But regardless of what Edward thought, Winry merely gulped and nodded. Edward stared at her with complete dismay, His mouth and eyes opening wider than they ever had.

"Winry! Why the hell were you around Dante?!"

"I was trying to find you… and… she sent me through." Winry looked away sadly. "Not that I saved you, you ended up having to go out of your way because I was stupid."

Edward frowned at her comment. "You were looking for me? You got yourself in danger because of me? Winry! How could you be so stupid?" Edward backed against the wall. Now he felt even worse. How could Winry get herself involved? Hohenheim watched the two sort through the demons they could have sorted in private and sighed.

"We were worried about you! Everyone! Of course I tried to look for you, what do you think I am?" She argued.

"How could you get yourself involved…?" Edward trailed off. "You should be in Amestris doing what you love, not stuck in Germany with me! You said so yourself." Winry looked down after his comment. She felt a little guilty for saying that now; maybe he had taken it more to heart than she initially thought he would.

"Winry, did she say anything about why she sent you here?" Before Winry had time to answer Hohenheim's question, Edward was cursing against the wall.

"That bitch! I'm going to kill her for this!"

"Yes Edward, why don't you go and get Winry something to drink?" Edward nodded and walked towards the kitchen with anger, mumbling incoherent curses at the old hag Dante to himself. Winry returned her focus back to the question after watching Edward walk away with mystification… sometimes she thought he was crazy.

"I don't really know. She said something about buying her time…" Winry tried to dig deep inside her head for information as Edward handed her a warm drink. Hohenheim waited with patience, trying to make something out of the mess Winry had gotten herself into. As soon as she looked up at Edward, she was somehow reminded of his brother back at home. They looked so much alike now. But they both had their separate facial features that set them apart. Like Ed, his eyes could gaze at you and burn you with fierce intensity, you could never lie to Edward's eyes… and even if he had been so small, his eyes were enough to make you feel 1000 times smaller than he ever was. However, Al possessed a gentle nature, his eyes made you feel comforted and joyous. Although Al could be vicious, and Ed could be gentle, their eyes held a default stare that was specific to only them. And it was Edward's questioning stare that allowed her to remember.

"Something about the stone…" Winry brought her hands up to her ears, making sure she wouldn't slip into memories of the gate while she thought about Dante. But she couldn't stop now, she had Edward's attention and he was going to hear what she had to say no matter what. "That's right… she was angry because she had to try to bring Edward back. He was the only one who could make the stone." She looked up at Edward with pleading eyes. Hohenheim was sitting there, shaking his head with disrespect.

"It's almost stupid now… Dante is going to die." But neither Winry nor Edward were listening. His eyes revealed his torment deep inside and only Winry could soothe the now building of tension between them.

"Edward, she didn't say anything about trying to use your brother, I was worried about the same thing." Edward was silent after her reply. He seemed to be somewhat relieved and flopped down onto the couch next to her. No matter what, there was going to be that worry down deep within him. The stone was the reason Al was alive… but it was the reason his brother had disappeared… and it was the reason Ed was in this world. No-one wanted Al getting involved with Ed's past mistakes.

"Dad… what if…"

"Edward, I'm sure she won't be sending your brother through the gate any time soon. If she does discover him, she will most likely try to get you two back together to make the stone. It will be equivalent trade of course." Hohenheim looked between the two young adults on the couch and sighed. They both seemed completely drained of colour and energy. But Edward had seemed to gain a new light in his eyes, could it be because the presence of his childhood friend was lifting his spirits?

When it was silent between the three for a few more minutes Hohenheim got up with some difficulty. "But you were right Edward; we shouldn't be talking about such things at this time. You should show Winry to her room."

Edward groaned with annoyance but stood up and offered Winry his hand. She gratefully accepted and was lead to the guest room in front of Ed's own. Edward opened the door to the room only for 

a huge blush to creep up to his face. This was his storage room… Winry stepped into the disgusting room and turned to Edward with a look of repulsion.

"Edward! Are you sure this isn't your room?" From the items thrown around Winry could easily tell the stuff was Edward's and she scowled at him as he went about the room sheepishly picking his crap up off the floor.

"It was my storage room I guess…"

"You mean a pigsty!" She retorted angrily. Why were males so messy? Couldn't they be bothered just placing something somewhere? If she knew Ed well enough, she would also know that he would have probably thrown stuff into this room without a care in the world. "You slob!" She was about to pick up a piece of his own crap on the floor and throw it at his head, but he had already exited the room. She saw his hand wave goodbye from the side and shook with sudden infuriation.

"Get acquainted with your new room!" Edward laughed, running with a handful of stuff in his hands to chuck back into his own room.

"Hey get back here! You haven't finished cleaning! Edward!" He heard her yell from her bedroom with frustration, and every grunt he heard from her in disapproval he cracked up into a fit of giggles on his bed. She was going to be majorly pissed for a while…

"You seem happy."

Edward looked up from the paperwork he was currently working on, realising he had almost worn a smile the whole time he had been working, chuckling to himself here and there whenever he heard a crash in Winry's room in which he presumed she had either thrown or fallen over something. Edward wiped the smile from his face and nodded slightly.

"Not really…" Edward shrugged, making notes all over the paper to try and help Winry when she came to try and work on the auto-mail. Then again, he may have to do some sucking up after pissing her off this afternoon. But hey… she was amusing when she was angry. She found his anger amusing too, so she couldn't pin all the blame on him. Sometimes she would pick fights with him because she was bored, he never minded though; it helped his boredom as well.

"Well, I haven't seen you smile like that for quite a while."

Edward hated this conversation; it was going the wrong way. He didn't want to be happy around his father; he wanted him to think he was miserable in this world. That nothing could make him happy.

"Maybe you never looked…" _Why was he smiling? _Why was he feeling that surge of life within him again? He wanted to lose it, he couldn't be happy here, even if that happiness came from his own world.

"Is your world brighter now?"

Edward looked up with this question. This time, his father had really lost him. "What do you mean…?"

"Is it brighter, now that Winry's here?"

His father left the doorway with a smirk, causing Edward to drop his pen down onto the paper with the sudden realisation.

**Saturn Stars**


	5. Chapter 5

**Taken Away: **Chapter Five

"So if that goes here…"

Edward placed the pencil down and scratched his head at the puzzle in front of him.

The light of the bedroom was causing his eye-lids to droop slightly with tiredness. It seemed like the world was spinning when he had nothing but the small candle to focus on his plans with, especially when he had been focusing on nothing but them for the entire day. He shook his head and came back into reality slowly; it wasn't that late, it was just because he'd had a big day. He had to continue no matter what. The meetings he had tomorrow were very important and if he didn't have something extraordinary to contribute…

Maybe this was the core reason for his continuing enthusiasm on this current project in front of him. His goal was to design his own rocket based on numerous works. What he thought would help, what would contribute to the already well known works of many scientists. If truth be told, he had been working on it for months, and he had to get it done tonight no matter what. Tomorrow was important, a big and vital part of his plan to get himself, and now, Winry home.

He put the tip of the pencil back down on his plans and began sketching what he had heard in Oberth's lesson today. If Oberth had so many theories about this stupid machine, why couldn't they just build one already!? This stuff played with Ed's head till there was nothing left to do but fall asleep. He tried to understand one concept after the next, but it left him dumbfounded. It sounded good enough, it sounded like it could work, then why did people say it would take more than fifty years to possibly build one? Why were they scared of even trying? He didn't understand how back in Amestris he was a master at one of the most complex professions around. Here however, things where different. Everything had to be built delicately and excruciatingly careful. Machinery, and mechanics were the same back in Amestris as well, it was just a little more abstract in Auto-mail's case. Earth, or Germany, and thought of nothing like that to aid limbless people here. Ed got the feeling, limbless people weren't really thought about at all in the first place.

If he got Winry involved on this project, it was entirely possible that she would end up being more of a help to him with the fiddly stuff, than he was. But he hadn't wanted to disturb her; this wasn't something she had to worry about. He knew that if he asked her to help she would try her best until she was completely worn out, he didn't want that.

She had been sleeping all day for the past few days. Edward would constantly check on her, and worry himself to the point he had only gotten a few hours of sleep each night. But his father had reassured him that after the amount of pressure that had been put on her, this amount of sleep was normal. Sometimes, Edward wondered what she dreamed about… Wondered why she would rather peacefully dream then live in reality. What was she seeing when she shut her eyes and drifted off into the world of eternal peace?

It was when he heard a knock on his door that he realised he was not entirely awake himself. He opened his eyes with a start to see her standing in his doorway with a meek expression on her rejuvenated face, blanket wrapped around her body to keep warm. Before he had a chance to say her name with surprise she said his.

"Ed…"

He leant forward on his seat slightly, rubbing his eyes to try and wake himself up. He was afraid she would disappear if he shut his eyes. He was so happy to see her awake and well.

"Winry… long time no see, how long have you been up?" Edward followed her with his eyes as she took a couple of steps into the room and shut the door behind her. She flopped down onto his bed with a sigh, something he hadn't completely expected her to do. It seemed that sleep was still on her mind after all.

"About an hour. I have been talking to your dad for a while. He told me I should come in and try to pull you from your work for tonight." Edward blinked before turning his tired eyes back to the paper in front of him. Apart from the fact that his dad was trying to get Winry to come in here just because he knew Edward was weak against her, Edward was angry over the fact his father hadn't realised how important this was. Sure he was losing sleep, better than loosing years back in his world with his brother.

"You were talking to my dad about me?" He furrowed his eyebrows. The comment his father had told him earlier in the week about Winry still running through his head. _Am I really using her for my own happiness? _

Edward turned his attention back to Winry sharply when she sat up and began to speak with a small smile on her lips. She was trying too hard to be strong for him, when he knew all she really wanted was to cry, kick and scream, hit him and tell him how much she hated him. Did she miss home that much already?

"What are ya even working on there?" Her eyes perked slightly with curiosity when his metal hand slammed down over the top of the plans. The last thing he needed was Winry to discover the magical flying object he was trying to create… A rocket would probably be something Winry considered as her own offspring. He had caught her calling his auto-mail her baby more than once. Could he possibly imagine her with a rocket in her grasp? The woman would be insane, unstoppable. Probably try to take over the world.

"Nothing much"

"I see…" Her eyes fell down to his auto-mail almost on instinct. "I'll make you a deal, Ed," he waited for her to start her proposition with slight astonishment, her voice sounded so determined, "take me shopping tomorrow, and I will work on making you a new auto-mail." He threw his ponytail behind his head and let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He didn't want her to have to work on his auto-mail so soon.

"Winry… you really don't have to do that."

"But I want to."

He felt even guiltier now. He knew how upset she was, and how much just spending the day out shopping would cheer her up. She was a girl after all. And he was her friend, the only person she had here. He felt sorry for her, that she had no-one to spend her time with but him.

"See the thing is… I can't take you tomorrow. I'm kind of busy for the rest of the week. I need to help dad out to get some money and I'm meeting up with a few people to explain alchemy in exchange for other things…" Now he had done it. The glow in her eyes suddenly dulled. She looked away and began playing with his bed sheets.

"Like what? I thought you said alchemy doesn't even exist in this world." And that was kind of Winry's only happiness for this world.

"It doesn't matter, they know that I am a master, and it's a very popular concept, Winry."

"And what will you be getting?" She looked up angrily, and he didn't blame her either. He knew what she was saying. Was the information he would be receiving in return for his help, more important than spending time with her?

"Men's business"

"Oh of course it is. It always is. So you are just going to leave me at home alone all day? No, all week. When I don't even have a damned thing to do and I don't even know where I am?" She questioned angrily. "Can't I at least come with you?"

"Maybe dad could use you around the office." He scratched his chin in thought. His father had been looking for a secretary. Winry wasn't exactly the best choice, but she was a fast learner.

"Well maybe I don't want to go with your dad. Maybe I want to go with you!"

He sighed with frustration and placed the pencil down on his desk. "I'm busy Winry, having you there isn't going to help me at all. You are a woman, men won't appreciate you sitting there and listening in on conversations practically forbidden to your sex."

She was not in the mood to get on the topic of what her role was in this society again. She didn't even care anymore, and she was not going to waste her energy on fighting with Ed anymore.

"Okay whatever." She sniffed slightly and looked away, to hide her hurt face from Edward.

"You are okay with it?" He inquired, noticing the way her hands tightened on the bed sheets.

"Sure, I'm used to being left behind by you." He heard her sniff slightly again and watched as a tear slid down her cheek onto his bed sheets. He knew Winry wasn't specifically crying about this argument. It was just an excuse to cry about even being here, or having to put up with him in this time of his life. It hurt him to watch her like this. So he made a decision right there and right then. Even if it was a big mistake, even if it meant he could lose valuable opportunities, he wasn't going to watch Winry slip away right in front of his own eyes.

"You know what?" He saw her turn her head slightly at the sound of his voice, however her tear filled eyes were still hidden from him. "I'll cancel tomorrow's arrangements."

"Eh?" Winry turned her head abruptly to meet his calm gaze with shocked eyes.

"Sure, I'll tell everyone it's off and take you out. How does that sound?"

"Are you being sarcastic to try and make me feel guilty?" Winry questioned, opening her mouth with shock.

"No, I really want to take you out for the day. I'll buy you whatever you want, my treat, as usual."

"But you're stuck on money…"

"I can work more hours to make up for it, its fine." He threw a gentle smile in her direction to let her know it was okay, that he wasn't just joking around.

"But you never cancel your plans for me." She narrowed your eyes suspiciously. "Is that about auto-mail?"

"Well I'm cancelling now. No it's not about auto-mail. I have lived with this for almost two years now. I'm sure I can wait a little longer for you to recover." He pointed towards the piece of junk with a slight chuckle.

"Why are you doing this…?"

"I want you to be happy."

So he was feeding his own guilt and that made him feel even guiltier about it. The truth was, he couldn't deny how much happier he had been with her around. He could at least return the favour instead of continuously making her cry!

"But why? You never cared about how I have felt before."

He frowned at her comment. "Of course I did Winry, I just don't really understand how women think and I don't always know when you're upset or hurting. So if you just tell me what you want I'll give it to you." He let out a small smile at the shocked expression on her face.

"But why?"

"Because you're my friend and I care about you?" He hoped that was a good enough answer for her because he really didn't want to get into specifics.

"Why are you talking like this? This is weird Ed." He watched her glance away again. She tried desperately to hide the blush on her cheeks and pulled the blankets up around her body tighter than she had before.

"Well do you want me to take you or not?"

"Yes… I want you to take me."

"Okay, but let's make a deal. Promise me that you won't get upset if I am not always around. I have to meet these people to help get us home Winry. Do you understand? It's not just for me, it's for you too, and I know you don't want to stay here anymore than I do."

"Will you take me to lunch?" Her eyes widened with excitement.

"Sure"

"Okay… deal! Just promise that you will be with me as much as possible, I don't want to be alone around here." She stood up from the bed and extended her hand.

He shook it gratefully and waited as she tried to find words. "I also want to get a job so I can help you with money…"

"No Winry—"

"Shut up! Ever since I got here you have been so kind to me. You have been going out of your way for me. You have been spending all your money on me and working in order to be here with you is worth it."

He was at a loss for words for a few moments but his mouth changed into a grateful appreciative smile. It was amazing how happy he could make her with the simplest things like spending time with her. "Thanks Winry, but I will be taking you to find a good proper job okay?"

She nodded with a genuine smile on her lips. It was time for her to take her leave and he stood up to open the door for her.

"Make sure you get a good sleep Mister Edward Elric."

"You too Miss Winry Rockbell."

She giggled and flicked his forehead lightly. "Don't overwork yourself now! You will have to have energy for tomorrow!" Just her bringing up how much walking and running they would be doing in between shops was enough to make him dread tomorrow morning… oh god… she was going to drag him to literally all corners of Munich. He just hoped she wouldn't be disappointed in the range this poor country had to offer at the moment.

"Make sure you sleep well too."

"Thanks Ed."

She left his room with the lonely click of his door shutting. He fell down onto his bed where she had just sat a minute ago with a pained heart. His bed was tainted with her tears that he had caused, again. No matter where he went with her he was never ever going to be able to make her happy was he?

The next morning could be seen as quite an amusing situation to the young man's father. Edward was slightly grumpy that he had to cancel all his important appointments with people that he may never be able to have conversations with again. Winry could see that he was slightly upset no matter how hard Edward tried to hide it from her. He even offered to wait out in the blistering cold morning air while she ate her breakfast just to avoid her gaze.

"I'll wait for you outside okay Winry?" Edward stood from the table with a sigh in which the cool morning air could be seen exiting his mouth. He threw his coat on quickly, pulling his gloves over his mismatched hands skilfully.

"But I still have to eat, why would you wait out there?" Winry looked up from the breakfast that she wasn't taking much pleasure at eating at all.

"It's okay; I need to think about some stuff anyway." She didn't argue with him again as he opened the door and shut it loudly behind him.

She could just see him standing out on the porch waiting for her, hands in his pockets, eyes cast heavenward, mind racing with thoughts, and body freezing to death. None of those were good for his health. So Winry pulled the coat that Edward had offered her closer to her body and placed the food to her mouth with haste. She would have chosen to just stand up and run out after Ed, but the number one rule that Hohenheim had set for both of them was: no matter how much the food did _not _appeal to them, they had to eat every last thing on the plate before leaving.

Winry couldn't help but pout and chuck a tantrum over the fact. She was sure Edward had in the beginning as well. But her childhood friend had assured her that his father was only worried about their health. No matter how babied she felt, she had to eat to maintain her strength in this place.

"Don't worry about my son." Hohenheim suddenly spoke up when he noticed Winry continually throw nervous glances at his front door.

"I'm not. I have known him since I was in diapers… I know he is a stubborn jerk."

"Maybe he just doesn't know what to say to you."

"You would think he would learn some time in his life. He is eighteen now! He can't just keep walking out doors expecting that I will let him run away." She rolled her eyes and mindlessly fiddled with the spoon on her plate, forgetting that she had decided to eat it in a hurry to catch up with Ed.

"I'm grateful he is taking me out today… I just feel…" She sighed with frustration as she tried to find the words. Why was she talking to Ed's father about this anyway? The fact she had distinguished that he was a very kind man that she felt a connection with, didn't change the fact that she really didn't know him at all. But what was she supposed to do? Keep her dangerous feelings bottled up inside? She knew that would definitely not be good for her or her relationship with Ed if she started taking out her frustrations on him when he had his own frustrations to try and hold back himself.

"Different?" It was like he had taken the words right out of her mouth, however simple they may have been. She tried to smile at his help to her wording, but she wasn't too happy about the word or what she was trying to say. The fact was, Winry had no-one else to talk to but this man, she didn't know anyone from this 'world', and what else was she supposed to do, talk to Ed?

"Yeah… he is just so different, I don't know what to do with him. Everything feels different."

"It's been a long time; you are both eighteen now… feelings change Winry. People change." He gave a soft smile at her sigh of defeat.

"I assure you that my son is less cold than he acts. I'm sure deep down he is thinking about what is best for you. But you two just need some time to adjust. Edward still hasn't accepted that he is here, and you have just arrived here for a reason unknown. But everything is connected. I'm sure it will work out."

Winry placed the last spoonful of food into her mouth as his father finished his wise words.

"But he is frustrating me. I don't know what to think. Sometimes he is so kind and shows me his sensitive side. He really makes me believe he has changed and matured into a man, a man that can make me feel so…" She shook her head and moved onto the next aspect of Hohenheim's son. The last thing she needed to talk to him about were her mixed emotions towards Edward at the moment, or how wonderful he could make her feel. Like no other man ever had or could. "Then other times, I think he is the biggest jerk in the entire world! He treats me with little or no concern and I just want to punch him through a wall for his lack of consideration!"

"Winry, have you ever thought about the fact that maybe he is trying to hide something from you? Men try to act cool around their friends or people they admire, but they end up hurting the other person without even realising it." The way Ed's father was talking to her, with an all knowing look in his eyes, it made Winry feel slightly intimidated yet strangely comfortable. It was like she could discuss all the mysteries of the universe with this man. "Try not to be too hard on him; I'm sure he isn't trying to be hostile towards you for no reason." The wink at the end of his speech was definitely not appropriate and left Winry thinking about what he had just based the whole conversation on. She shrugged it off and stood from the table, Hohenheim insisting she catch up with Ed instead of cleaning her own mess.

So she thanked him kindly and opened the front door to be met by a gush of cold air, and the image of Edward standing with his back towards her, just as she had imagined.

"Hey stranger." She chuckled stepping down onto the step he was watching the people go about their daily lives from.

He side-glanced her for a moment, before quickly diverting his attention to the street again. "You know, we have to get you some female winter wear first. It's really not right for you to be going around in a man's coat."

"I kinda like it better than the stuff that old woman gave me…" Winry wrapped it around her tighter; the cold wasn't as bad as it was the first morning she had awoken to it.

"I shouldn't have introduced it to you, trust you to want to wear men's clothes." Winry scowled over his comment and huffed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. Are you ready to go?" He turned to her with an amused grin which only caused her to feel angered heat rising within her again. He began descending the steps coolly with a firm smirk planted on his face.

"If I didn't know any better, I would think you enjoyed making me all hot and bothered!" Winry stated, trying to catch up to him.

"Don't you get pleasure out of the same thing?"

Winry thought on his question before giggling with defeat. "Honestly Ed, you are amusing when you're angry."

"See, we are as bad as each other."

"At least we admit it."

"Correct." He turned his head to give her a pleased smile, before shoving his hands into his pockets again.

Winry lowered her head with the sudden realisation and smiled lightly at the snow beneath her feet.

"Maybe I kind of missed my fights with you."

Edward let out what sounded like a stifled scoff and froze in his tracks.

"Oh, is that so?" She nodded with a grin and poked him in the arm to rest her case. "That's all you missed? You wanted me to come back to Amestris so you could poke me some more!?" He sounded like he was angry, but Winry could hear the hint of laughter and amusement underneath the act. He was in a good mood this morning wasn't he?

"Of course not!" She didn't realise that he had begun to walk again, and tried to catch up to him only to be greeted by his questions.

"So you missed something else about me?" Winry nodded at his question and blushed as she tried to think about what. "What then?"

"Umm… stuff like talking to you, mmm fixing your auto-mail?" She heard Edward laugh lightly and once again felt that familiar frown creep onto her lips.

"I should have guessed. You always did like my mechanical parts more than me."

Winry felt her eyebrows furrow as they stepped into the closest shop that looked like it would sell some decent clothes.

"Ed! You know that's not true! You're auto-mail is a thing, you are a person!"

"And auto-mail is a thing that you happen to enjoy more than people!" Edward pointed towards the clothes racks and shelves, knowing well what Winry's reaction would be. She walked towards them, but was still focused on the conversation and getting her last word in.

"You're silly Edward; you know that's not true…" She trailed off as her eyes fell down to her selection.

Edward noticed the disgusted look on her face and grinned. "And this is the best store, I'm telling you."

"You're telling me that this is the type of stuff they wear?" Winry turned towards Edward with mock horror on her face.

"I'm sure you would look great, but yes this is your choice."

"Edward! I can't wear this!"

"Winry this is a poor country at the moment. Maybe in London you would find something a little more suitable, however we are not in London."

"Ed! Trust you to pick a poor and boring place!" She had raised her voice tone slightly now, enough to catch the shop attendants' attention and enough to anger Edward.

"I _didn't choose _this place!" Edward retorted, raising his voice a little louder than hers to battle for dominance.

"I can't wear this!" She turned back to the clothes with absolute determination; she wouldn't be caught dead in any of this. She would rather just wear a jumper and a long skirt than be in with the 'fashions'.

"Can I help you…?" A woman approached the two cautiously watching Edward's annoyed gaze at Winry suspiciously.

"We're fine!" Edward snapped. The woman nodded with understanding and took a step back.

"Well you have to wear something Winry!" Edward motioned her towards the other range of clothes. None suitable to her tastes at all.

"I'm quite comfortable in this coat thank you very much!" She turned her back on him, crossed her arms over her chest and put her nose up in the air. It was a signal that the conversation was now officially over and Edward could definitely not change her mind. That didn't mean he was going to give up.

"Number one: that's _my _coat. Number two: you are a _woman_ not a man and women are supposed to have better manners and dress nicer. Number three: people will think it's inappropriate if you walk around like that all the time, especially in summer, Winry! Be reasonable." His comment didn't faze her at all. He was disappointed that she wasn't happy, but she couldn't be serious as to wear his clothes everywhere, could she? "I'm sorry you aren't happy with the choice, but it's not my fault."

"How are you going to make it up to me if I at least buy a jumper or skirt?" Winry opened her eyes that were shut tightly to side glance him.

"Take you to a shop that has some metal items?"

She thought on it for a second and suddenly grinned. "Deal!"

After many stores later, and bags full of clothes and certain parts that Winry could try and incorporate into auto-mail, Edward and Winry began to take that long walk home.

"I can't believe they don't even have the special type of wires that allow better movement of the arm! How am I going to try and substitute this for the proper thing?" She had been rambling to herself all afternoon and Edward wasn't particularly listening since he'd had the same problem when trying to find certain things for auto-mail that did just not exist here. Besides, he was too busy worrying about all the money he had spent on her, sure her bags were full, but his pockets were now completely empty. He liked to spoil her, but freaking hell…

"At least lunch was nice, we didn't have to go to such a fancy restaurant you know?"

_Oh and there was that! _Why did he have to pick one of the most expensive restaurants he had ever known? Was he trying to impress her? Make her feel better perhaps?

"I guess since you treated me like such a gentlemen today that I will fix your auto-mail free of charge!"

He was looking after her, paying for everything, letting her go on shopping sprees, and she had considered charging him before now? The thought exhausted him completely. He was so tired out from her antics he didn't even hear the familiar voice call his name.

"Edward!" She tugged on his arm and he awoke to discover that Winry was already staring face to face with the woman he had met a week or so ago. However, the Alter-Winry was too busy looking up at Edward to notice Winry's horrified gaze in her direction. But her eyes soon discovered the beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes standing next to him. Alter-Win looked between the two, noticing the striking resemblance between her and the woman whose arm was conveniently linked with Edwards. _Where they an item? _Alter-Win thought on it, she just couldn't imagine Edward with anyone… This girl would have to be extremely special.

"Did I interrupt something?" Alter-Winry asked with a slight blush as Edward instinctively pulled his partner closer. No wonder he had, She looked devastated almost shocked. "Are you two seeing each other…?" Alter-Winry asked Ed, trying not to let her voice sound too let down.

Alter-Winry could see the woman whispering to Edward and she looked away at the awkwardness of it all. She couldn't help but feel a little discouraged; it had been her plan to get closer to Edward all along...

"Uh no we are just friends… Winry… this is Winry…" Edward looked between the two as they stared at each other intently. "Winry is my childhood friend, Win." Alter-Winry sighed with relief; maybe there was hope for her after all.

Winry snapped her head up to Edward and glared at him angrily. "You never call me Win!"

"Well this woman told me to call her Win and it's the only way I can try and keep my sanity while I am standing in front of practically identical women with the same name!" Winry turned back to the dark haired lady in front of her.

"Same name huh… what a coincidence?" The two laughed about the situation. But Edward could tell that he had to get his Winry out of there as soon as possible. It looked like she was about to faint, die of a heart attack, or have a nervous breakdown… so he excused himself and Winry from Alter-Winry's presence.

"I'll come over some time!" She heard Alter-Winry call from the distance.

"Sure!" Edward yelled back in a rush to get Winry home. He wasn't in the mood to tell her how busy he was.

He helped Winry into the house to sit down on the couch and try to adsorb what had just happened.

"It's just like you said, this world really has a connection to ours doesn't it?" Edward looked down at the tired woman on the couch and offered her some water.

He still had so much he needed to explain to her… things that would come with time.

**SATURN STARS**


	6. Chapter 6

**Taken Away: **Chapter Six

Winry lay on her bed in thoughtful silence while she visually interrogated the life outside her window. Her arm overflowed over the bed and she unconsciously ran her finger along the wooden floor's surface as she rested her head on her arm that was gently cushioned by the bed. She sighed tiredly when she realised that nothing outside the window was going to change, no matter how hard she stared at it. And her leg that was swaying through the air fell back down onto the bed with a thump to meet the other.

She could hear a commotion going on downstairs and turned her head vaguely to face her closed bedroom door.

She had finally tidied the place up after an hour of screaming at Ed and sulking because he wasn't going to come help her. She had gotten revenge for his act of selfishness however. She had retrieved a box from somewhere in the room and had confidently chucked all of Edward's junk into it with a steadily growing smirk. When she knew he was digging for food in the kitchen, she had sneakily tiptoed into his room. And instead of placing the box neatly next to the door like a normal lady would, as Edward would say. She had held it above her head and given it a large swing with her arms to scatter the contents of the box all over his tidy room. Edward had heard the noise of all his crap hitting the floor so clearly that he was by her side within a second of it happening, staring at his new room with shock beside the extremely satisfied grinning girl.

"Whha-whattttt?" Edward had whispered with surprise, too astonished to even place the blame on the obviously guilty Winry next to him.

It was when she had dusted her hands off with a smile of achievement that he had turned to her with utter disbelief and begun scowling. As she watched the dust settle in his room for a moment she turned to him and shrugged.

"You don't know how to treat a 'woman', therefore, I don't know how to treat this so called 'man' you have become!" She had then 'hmphed!' at the perfect time with her head raised slightly, and stomped from the room, leaving Edward with a nights worth of work.

Thinking back on the memory made her smirk even now, and she returned her head to the window.

"Winry!"

Winry sat up and crossed her legs on the bed as she heard Edward knocking on her door respectively. She looked down at her clothing and thought on whether she should let him see her like this before shrugging and letting him in.

"Winry, there are guests down there who say they would love to meet my friend from 'Berlin'" Edward gave her a slightly knowing look that told her this 'Berlin' was now the place she was from. "You don't have to come or anything, but my father would love to introduce you to some of his friends. They say they might even be able to get you a job somewhere, so you don't have to mope around the house while my father and I are out on business."

She pushed the shirt down into her lap with anger to avoid Edward seeing anything she didn't want him to and straightened one of her legs on the bed. "I wouldn't have to mope around if you took me with you!"

Edward, who still hadn't noticed what she was wearing, much to her relief, sighed and placed his metal hand to his forehead. Winry twinged somewhat as she saw the horribly crafted work touching his skin. Every time she saw it she felt a twang of annoyance, yet it was her fault they hadn't worked on it yet. She always seemed to start a fight with him before they could even get down to business, and then storm out of the room. She didn't know why Edward put up with her sometimes. But sure enough, here he was standing in front of her trying to introduce her to new people. He only worried about her in the end.

"Do you want to come or not Winry, I don't want to fight about our 'time spent together' quite this early in the day, can we save it till at least four in the afternoon thank you!"

"Fine, fine! I'll come down."

"But Winry you have to dress appropriately okay. By that I mean by the standards of this society. You can't just come out in…" he looked down at her for a moment and flinched, "… you can't come… Is that mine?" He continued to stare down at her clothing for a moment before shaking his head and raising his eyes to hers once again with deep frustration.

"Yes…"

"Wait a minute…" He looked over to the end of the bed where his pants lay discarded, recently taken off by Winry. "What are my pants doing in your room?" He began to raise his voice slightly and shut the bedroom door behind him.

"They are comfortable." She shrugged.

"You can't go around wearing my clothes!" Edward snatched his pants from the end of the bed with a huge crimson blush spreading across the length of his face. He was about to snatch his shirt of Winry before he decided against it with an even bigger blush.

"But I like them!"

"And you can't just leave them discarded around your room!" He leaned in closer faintly and glanced around the room with paranoia, before lowering his voice to a cautious whisper. "What's my father going to think if he finds random parts of my clothing around your room Winry?"

"That I was wearing them?" She asked innocently, fully aware of what Edward was implying.

"Yeah, too bad my father doesn't think that way!"

"What way?" Winry tried to suppress the smirk that was building up. But it was so undeniably hilarious to hear Edward on the topic of human interaction, he became flustered like crazy. Winry had never seen it before and was intrigued or fascinated by his embarrassment over such a natural issue.

"The normal way!"

"Edward," she sighed, having enough of his enraged words, "actually it's quite normal for someone to think two people are having a 'sexual relationship' yes sexual! If they find clothes of the 'implied lover' on the floor of the opposite sexes' room." She sighed at his reaction and began taking interest in other things around the room. There must be something she hadn't looked at yet.

"And you want my father to think that?" Edward inquired with absolute infuriation.

"I'm sure he would realise the actual situation. Most normal people would think _'Why in the world would Winry want to do anything like that with Edward?'_ He would then realise that I was just wearing your clothes as he notices them on me all the time, unlike you since you don't pay any attention to me whatsoever! Mind you, I think your father gets some enjoyment out of it and thinks it's incredibly cute that I wear your clothes. Are we done now Mr. Immature?"

"No we are not! You can't wear my clothes! Now give the shirt back!" He held out his hand with furrowed eyebrows, obviously offended at her pervious comment.

"What?" She looked down at her shirt and gave him a suspicious look. However his hand remained out with determination and her doubt that he would want her to strip it off in front of him slowly started to fade. "You want me to take it off? While you are looking at me, and there is nothing underneath?" She watched him widen his eyes slightly and smirked. "No bras available in Munich, or did you forget about the huge argument we had about that already?"

He swiftly turned on his heel after hearing that sentence, and opened the door to her room with anger. "Arrrgh! I don't want to talk to you about that stuff! Just keep the god damn shirt alright!" With that he had slammed the door behind him, obviously flustered and had left Winry on the bed with slight confusion.

"I'm never going to understand that boy…" She sighed, looking around for something 'appropriate' to wear.

About ten minutes later, Edward caught a glimpse of blonde hair peeking around the corner. He instinctively sunk in his chair as Winry stepped out into the open, arms placed over her chest self consciously.

"Why she's beautiful Edward! Why didn't you tell us?" The man closest to his father perked up slightly as she walked in. This made Edward sink even lower in his chair with his blush, as he could definitely not deny the fact in that dress with a bit of makeup. Edward had endured having to suppress this overwhelming feeling for her before. If she touched up the slightest bit she looked amazing, he had seen her beauty many times before this. So why was he sinking in his chair like he wanted to disappear?

"A goddess… she even has long hair like those pictures of goddesses in the books… are you sure…?"

"No Hess! She is just a normal girl, I'm sure!" Edward snapped, trying to cover his red face. Winry walked over to the table and slapped her hand down hardly on Ed's head quite obviously.

"Haha! Just like you Ed! To never let me enjoy a compliment!" Winry laughed falsely, annoying him greatly. She then ruffled his hair and stood behind him with a fake smile plastered on her face.

Hohenheim reached forward for his drink slightly and smirked at his son's crimson face. He then leaned in slightly closer to his son to look up at Winry. "He's just jealous Winry, when will you realise that."

Edward flinched slightly and sank even lower. "Dddd-aaaa--dddd!" He suppressed through gritted teeth.

"They make a wonderful couple don't they?" Spoke up Karl, ignoring Hess as he gazed at Winry with amazement."

"I think I'm in love…" The table heard him whisper under his breath, however they all seemed to ignore him and focus on the 'couple' comment.

"Yes, don't they?" Hohenheim grinned, raising his drink into the air with laughter.

"We aren't a couple!" Edward spat, darting his eyes back to the floor after making the comment.

"No definitely not, I need someone I little more mature… and taller…" Winry agreed, ruffling Edward's hair again.

"Stop treating me like a kid Winry! I'm taller then you now!"

"Oh by how much… like a centimetre?" Winry replied in a baby voice, tickling the side of his neck.

"No Winry! You are struggling to reach my shoulder height!" Edward retorted, slapping her tickling fingers away from his neck before he erupted into giggles from it. She had always known his spots, but he knew hers too and if she didn't stop….! Besides, just because he had been short at some point of his life, didn't mean Winry had to keep referring to him as short for the rest of his life.

"Awww! Eddy Weddy thinks he's a big boy now that Winny is only up to his shoulder height!" She giggled.

"Don't call me that! Winny" Edward said in a low warning tone.

Karl leaned into Hohenheim slightly as the two youngsters continued to fight with each other.

"What exactly are they then…?" He asked Edward's father, as they watched the fight with fascination.

"Winry! Don't touch me there!"

"Awwww Eddy!'

"WINRY! If this is about that conversation earlier."

"Awwww Edddy Weddy gets so embarrassed!"

"Because it's with you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Winry replied, slapping him lightly.

"I don't like talking about that stuff with you!"

"No matter how many times I see them fight… It continues to amaze me." Hohenheim replied, leaning in to catch Edward's incoherent words mumbled under his breath.

"What exactly is their relationship?" Karl asked again. He however understood as Hohenheim paused to watch the fight.

"You get embarrassed with anyone!"

"That's only when you are in the room! How do you know what I talk about when you're not around?"

"Once again, what is that supposed to mean?" Winry sat down on the chair next to him and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Are you telling me you are too disgusted to talk about anything to do with sex while I'm in the room?"

"Oh they are arguing about sex… I knew something was wrong…" Hohenheim said just loud enough for his son to hear.

"YOU SHUT UP!" Edward pointed a finger at him before turning back to Winry to try and sort out the mess he had got himself into.

"You are disgusted by me aren't you?" Winry yelled, leaning in closer to poke his arm. "Not cute, not sexy, you say it all the time!"

"That's because you goddamn hit me over the head all the time!"

"Well if you weren't such a jerk then I wouldn't! Now which girl have you been talking about sex with? I want to know what's soooooooo special about her!"

"No-one Winry! No-one!" He knew how jealous she got when another female challenged the friendship he and Winry had. She had gotten nasty in previous times when any girl showed any interest in him at all; actually she would chase them away with the wrench.

"You just said you did it with other people when I'm not around! What's that supposed to mean?"

"This conversation…" Karl said into Hohenheim ear.

"I know… I don't think they realise how it sounds." He replied, his eyes never leaving the scene.

"My son fights with me all the time too, he seems to think Winry is the reason for these fights… but I'm not so sure."

"Why do other girls get to talk about it with you?" She sulked slightly.

"Why do you want to talk about it?" Edward yelled with embarrassment.

"I don't! I just feel neglected because you don't want talk to me about it! You never talk to me about any of that sort of stuff! Girls like that type of conversation! Why don't you try to do that with me?"

"Do _WHAT_ with you!"

"You just can't stand to do it with me, why not?"

Edward folded his arms over his chest and sighed. "You wouldn't understand… just drop it." Edward mumbled.

"What? I didn't hear that."

"Just DROP IT WINRY!"

"NO! TELL ME WHY!"

"NO!"

"They claim to be childhood friends." Hohenheim finally replied, taking a sip of his drink after being exhausted by the fight. "I remember when they were young, they still fought terribly, only back then they pulled each other's hair… oh looks like they still do that." Hohenheim trailed off as he saw Winry dangerously tugging on Edward's pony tail.

"I see…" Karl then stood up and extended his hand to Winry who was now pulling Edward's hair. They stopped in mid assault as Winry recognised the gesture and let go of Edward's hair without warning, sending him crashing to the ground. "Why Winry, I'm Karl, a professor at the Munich University, how do you do?"

Winry accepted his outstretched hand and froze as he brought it to his lips to gently kiss. "This young man is Adolf Hess, one of my favourite students down at the university. You have a beauty I have never seen my lady."

"Why thankyou." Winry smiled, finally breaking apart from the handshake. It was then Hess' turn; however, he didn't just stop at her hand. Edward recovered slightly and stood from the floor to notice Hess placing hungry kisses right up her arm. Edward was shocked that Winry hadn't stopped him; she was however staring with slightly disgusted curiosity. He was almost up to her shoulder by the time Edward reached them and separated them.

"Just control yourself Hess!" Edward snapped, grabbing Winry's hand and pulling her away.

"If you are not seeing her Edward, Winry, I would love to take you out to dinner."

"Why that sounds wonder-"

"NO!"

"But Edward…" Hess argued.

"No, Winry is tired and doesn't want to go anywhere!"

"Edward really, I would like to go." Winry pushed him away slightly and stepped forward. "Will it be a really nice place?" Her eyes lit up. Hess seemed to be overwhelmed by the fact she was even talking to him and tried to remain stable.

"Only the best for you!" His eyes lit up as he grabbed her hands and stared into her beautiful eyes.

"NO!"

"Oh shut up Edward," Winry smirked, giving him a wink before turning back to Hess.

"You are just doing this because of the fight aren't you Winry?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." Winry grinned.

"Well you may not be with me, but he still needs to ask my permission, because,"

"Because what Edward?" Winry stepped away from Hess slightly to turn and look at Edward with slight shock. She couldn't help but noticed how upset he suddenly looked.

"Because I'm taking care of you at the moment, and I don't think it's good for you if you go out at the moment in the weather."

"Edward why do you care about me going to dinner so much, it's just dinner…"

"Because I… I… just don't want anything bad to happen to you. I don't know Winry. If you really want to go, I guess I can't stop you."

Winry suddenly felt extremely torn over his comment. She glanced over at Hess who still looked love struck and hopeful, and then returned her gaze to Edward who looked slightly upset over everything and sighed.

She had already accepted the other man's invitation, but she wasn't quite sure if she could deal with that hurt look in Edwards's eyes. Winry knew how she felt when he was with another woman, she felt betrayed almost, she never knew why. Did Edward feel the same? He was always so busy, and this was the first time he had ever shown her this side… Edward was a much more appealing option. So she sighed and gave Hess an apologetic look before sitting down in her seat again. Edward soon followed suit, trying to avoid Hess' dagger stare.

"So Winry, I hear you are interested in taking things apart…"

It took a while for the comment to register in Winry's mind. She looked up from her fiddling hands in her lap to the university professor.

"Oh yes…" Winry's eyes fell to Edward's arm that was discreetly covered up, before returning her eyes to her lap. She could feel Edward's intense gaze on her, it was hard not to feel his eyes when they were so powerful, and she lowered her head again slightly. She didn't exactly feel comfortable around university professors and students and whatnot… she felt like a lower class citizen almost. Winry couldn't match the brain of anyone in the room and when she realised how pathetic she would seem she began twitch slightly at their conversation. After how upset she had just made Edward, the last thing she wanted to do was embarrass him.

Parts of their conversation faded in and out, and Winry found that if anyone wanted to talk to her they would have to repeat what they said.

"…. Yes it would be hard to get a woman on the team, but I think you could really help out, from how Edward brags about your skills, he thinks you can fix anything."

This comment was what perked Winry's attention again. She slowly raised her head with a blank face and soon furrowed her eyebrows. "Huh…?"

"Yes, yes, Edward tells us all the time how great you are!" Karl and Hohenheim nodded to each other while Hess merely continued to sulk and drink.

"Edward says that?" Winry asked with disbelief, turning to get a look at Edward who was grinning uncontrollably.

"Of course Winry! I told them about you. This part of a car they are trying to create in class at the moment, I think that you would be a big help! I thought you would enjoy that."

Winry was so shocked that she could do nothing but stare at her friend in disbelief. "Ed…"

She felt guilty as his expression changed from light and happy to confused and worried. "What… you don't want to?" The sudden panic in his face made Winry even more uncomfortable and she stood up from her chair frantically.

"Uh no… that's not it. I'd love to help Professor Haushofer. Just tell Edward when something comes up." She glanced around the room nervously as she felt their suspicious eyes on her. Not to mention the worried look in Edward's eyes.

"Umm… could you excuse me… I uh…" She couldn't even find the rest of the words and ran from the room with haste. She slammed her bedroom door shut and leant against it with heavy breaths.

"Edward… did such a thing…" She shook her head angrily and stripped the stupid dress from her tiny figure. She picked up Edward's shirt and pulled it over her head, catching the smell of the fabric as it slid down onto her body. It smelt like him, and she had no idea why her stomach suddenly did a flip.

She grabbed a stool from the desk in the room and pulled it up to the window with frustration.

"I just don't get him!" One second he was a jerk… the next… he did things that made her so unbelievably happy… only he could think of such things. Suddenly she felt bad for the fight she'd had with him in front of the men and placed her hand to the cold glass of the window.

The first drops of rain began falling down the glass, mist forming around Winry's hand and leaving a mark as she slid it down the window.

"I really should get working on his arm…" She slumped slightly, her posture reminding her of how she felt at the moment. In a complete slump. She felt happy when she was with him, and not fighting. Yet sometimes she just needed to be alone, and she felt so bad that she had taken all her frustrations out on him… but who else was she supposed to take it out on?

A few more minutes past as Winry drew patterns on the fogged up window. A few more minutes spent sitting in guilt… and in confusion.

She turned around sharply as she heard the knock at her door. "Winry… it's me, can I come in?" His voice was shaky and faltering… his question almost sounded like a plea, it hurt Winry to hear him so upset.

"Come in…" She replied, finding her own voice in a troubled state.

He took the liberty to sit on the chair next to her and watch the rain fall down the window. As a few more minutes past and Winry could find no words to say to breath the uncomfortable silence, she began drawing on the window again.

"Look… Winry…"

The voice suddenly leaving his mouth was enough to cause her to turn her head sharply to meet his downcast eyes.

"If I offended you in anyway…"

"Don't be stupid, I was the one who embarrassed you in front of those intelligent men." Winry replied, resting her head on her hand sulkily.

"Don't be stupid, of course you didn't." He replied with a surprised tone. "I don't even really like those two men Winry, they are up to something. I'm forced to behave around them."

Winry giggled at his comment and lifted her head with a smile. "Well I could tell you didn't really like them, Especially the one hitting on me." Winry felt her spirits lighten suddenly and she poked her tongue out at Edward with some stifled giggles.

"Yeah well…" He took some deep breaths and tried to explain himself. "I just don't like Hess, or Haushofer for that matter, I don't want you mixing with the wrong people. That's all."

"They seemed nice enough to me…" Winry shrugged.

"Well you don't know them like I do." Edward snapped back.

"If I didn't know any better… I'd say you were jealous." Winry raised her eyebrow at the defensive expression he put up instantly.

"Jealous… hah… of what?"

Winry suddenly remembered what a jerk he could be and huffed with slight annoyance. "Now its comments like those that get me upset and cause us to have a fight!"

"You started it!"

She sighed and raised her fingers to disturb the fog on the window sill once gain. He was right anyway… maybe she shouldn't say things that embarrassed him anymore. Then he wouldn't get all defensive and hurt her with his sharp words.

"I really didn't mean it when I said you were short…" She suddenly blurted out, finding this the appropriate time to say sorry for the stupid things she had said to him. Maybe then they could shake hands and agree on not trying to hurt each other's feelings anymore.

"Well of course you didn't. You are just upset because you have to look up at me now. What's it like only reaching my shoulder now, does it make you feel annoyed?" Edward smirked as Winry crossed her arms over her chest.

"No it doesn't. I guess it's strange though, I am so use to you being…"

"Inferior?"

"No Edward! You were never inferior to me; well I didn't see it like that." She placed her finger to her mouth in thought.

"Sure, that's why you took it upon your kind self to bash me up whenever you had the chance."

"Hey Mister! I still have my wrench!" She raised it and watched as his eyes moved over it with caution. When she lowered it, she let her head bow slightly. "What I was going to say was, let's not be jerks to each other anymore." She looked up with a smile. "Really… I don't see why we have to say these nasty things to each other, we just get upset."

"Mmm…"

"Come on, let's shake on it!" She held out her hand and waited for Edward to snatch it up in his. He held his hand out slowly, with caution, like he thought it was all a trap, and then finally his hand came into contact with hers. They both froze.

She felt the tingling ran right up to her neck and shivered, noticing Edward seemed wide eyed with intrigue as well. "So this is what it feels like… I had forgotten…" Edward ran his fingers over her skin lightly before returning his gaze to her.

"A handshake like it would be back home…" Edward said with amazement. Every time he accidentally came into contact with the woman he would shiver.

"It must be because we are both from Amestris…" Winry pulled her hand away after he had said that and turned to watch the deserted roads once again.

"I miss home Edward, I don't want to stay here anymore. You're the only thing I have that reminds me of home, and you're never with me." She placed her head in her hands again, trying to avoid tears.

"I know Winry I'm doing my best here. I'll return us home, don't worry."

She lowered her hands from her face and caught glimpse of his auto-mail. She took hold of it suddenly and pulled the man closer to herself.

"So where have you lost movement…?" Winry asked, raising his hand above her head to get a glimpse of the parts underneath.

"In those three fingers…"

She picked up the parts in her bag and grabbed her wrench. "Now with the technology here I can only go so far with auto-mail… but I will be able to do a better job than this…"

"Hey!" Edward protested. "It's not that bad is it?" Winry gave him a flat look and returned to examining the pieces.

"I should be able to fix it up without rebuilding it, but I'm afraid we need to give the nerves another jolt to get the fingers reworking and the arm functioning properly…" Winry sighed, removing the top and clipping off unneeded parts of the auto-mail.

"Umm in English… does that mean your will have to re-dock the auto-mail." Edward asked with a slight twitching eyebrow.

"Yes, Don't worry; I'll be here to help you." She gave him a sweet smile before lowering her head to her work with determination. He suddenly realised how lucky he was to have her here and returned the smile to her.

"Thanks Winry…"

Sure enough the process had taken hours. He had even fallen asleep at one stage. He hated falling asleep because he never knew what Winry did with him when he did.

When they were called for dinner, Edward ate with some difficulty as she continued to work on his arm, Winry taking spoonfuls of her soup every now and then to keep her concentration. His father hadn't disturbed them when he realised what was going on… he knew that Winry needed her focus.

They returned to her bedroom and Winry laid Edward down on the bed so she could get a look at the back of the shoulder area. She brought a stool up to the end of the bed and searched through the box of screws for the best possible fit where this part that was vital to the auto-mail was missing.

When she was almost finished the repair she ran her finger over his scarred flesh like she always did, in deep thought. He had flinched like he always did when her fingers ran gently over his skin. But neither of them talked, it was like a ritual that occurred within the maintenance.

She had already prepared the towels and hot water before she docked on the auto-mail. She knew this time could be extremely painful due to the changes she had made and she would be surprised if Edward managed to keep away a fever.

"Just take deep breaths okay Ed?"

He turned around so he was lying on his back and nodded as she disconnected the arm, gripping the sheets tightly as he knew what pain was to come.

"1… 2, 3."

All Edward knew was searing, uncontrollable pain before everything around him turned to darkness.

It had been a couple of hours before Edward woke up. Winry had been nursing him in his sleep and he noticed her sleeping peacefully next to him, clutching his hand tightly.

He quickly closed his eyes when Winry stirred, not wanting her to know he had been watching her while she slept. He felt her sit up and reach over him for the washer in the chair next to him. She squeezed out the water tightly and replaced the one that had turned cold on his forehead with the new warm one. He heard her sigh sadly and flinched slightly as he felt her hand on his cheek.

"Wake up Edward…" He could hear the sadness in her voice. "Don't worry okay, I'll look after you. I won't leave your side." He heard her moan as she laid back down next to him, wrapping her arms around his.

"I'm so tired…" He heard her whisper. It wasn't long before her breathing returned to soft gentle breaths and he opened his eyes to see her snuggled up next to him. She had always done this since she was a little girl… but it wasn't exactly what he could call cute anymore… not when they were adults. Now it was something that caused him to blush furiously and stiffen in his place.

"She's so innocent…" He sighed, closing his eyes. His breathing was ragged and he felt extremely uncomfortable with the amount of sweat on his body. But Winry didn't seem to care as she was huddled closely next to him. But somehow in the comfort of the bed and Winry's presence he was able to fall asleep again and get some rest. He felt safe, nothing bad would happen to him while Winry was there.

"Edward, wake up." He felt cold hands come into contact with his hot skin and his eyes flickered open with surprise. He was greeted by Winry's relieved face. "You're still recovering and you should rest, but I thought I would bring you something to eat." He sat up and rubbed his eyes at her comment and blinked at she placed the tray on his lap.

"I made it all myself with what you had in the kitchen!" Winry beamed proudly. "Lucky you have me here to look after you, because your dad left for the university early this morning!"

"Wow… it looks great Winry… thanks." He forced out through his dry and hurting throat.

"Don't try and talk, its okay. Just eat up and go back to sleep. I'll be here to look after you, don't worry."

He nodded and gave her an appreciative smile before digging into the delicious meal. He found that eating it was harder than he thought, it pained his throat to swallow and he didn't want to get into a fight about eating it with Winry. He knew it was delicious but he couldn't taste the food properly, Winry seemed to be in tune with his pain, and she merely sighed.

"Docking it on made your body weak and vulnerable, it seems you have caught a flu and fever." She wiped some sweat from his face and chest before returning to her cross-legged position next to him on the bed. "You really need to eat it though, it will help."

"I'm sorry… you don't have to do this Winry." She so willingly wiped sweat from his body that it scared him.

"You're my friend; of course I would help you! You would do the same for me." He thought on her reply for a moment and realised that if Winry was sick he wouldn't care about merely wiping sweat from her, he would be worried about her getting better. He would do anything. It was funny how things seemed less disgusting when you cared for the person.

"I guess you're right…"

"Of course I am."

After eating the meal he found that all he could do was shut his eyes and lay back down. He was tired, merely eating drained to much energy from him.

He felt Winry start to rub his head with her fingers and moaned before sinking lower into the bed.

"That feels nice…"

She wiped some hair that was stuck to his face from sweat and continued to massage his scalp and play with his hair. She knew how to make him feel better that was for sure. No wonder he had fallen asleep within mere minutes.

When he had fallen asleep again, Winry looked down at him with a giggle. She then sighed and fell down onto the bed with exhaustion, looking after Edward all night had taken a lot out of her. But in a way she had felt terribly guilty for making so many changes when she knew his body might 

not have been able to become accustomed to the change so easily. He was suffering, and it was her fault for serious lack of judgment.

She returned to playing with his hair; having nothing else to do, and tried to fight the battle against her eyelids. It was then she noticed something on the bookshelf that caught her interest. She flung her legs over the side of the bed and walked towards the shelf to retrieve the book.

"A Beginning to Rocketry: What's been discovered" Winry read the title of the book and turned it around to the front again to see the blueprint of the 'machine' on the cover. When she thought about it the term was familiar, she had heard Edward talking about it and even seen him sketching something similar to this. She didn't really know much about it, as Edward had seemed to drop the topic around her, or cover his work when she walked into the room. This only made her more curious, and she flopped down onto the bed next to the sick boy and turned to the first page.

"To reach the stars…" She looked over at Edward and frowned. "So that's it is Edward? You think that by reaching the stars we will become that step closer to home, why didn't you ever tell me…" Of course he didn't reply, he merely made a sound of discomfort in his sleep.

Winry read, and she read with intrigue, her tiredness completely melting away and being replaced with excitement. Minutes turned into hours, and hours soon turned into night, and she was still totally caught up in the pages of the book. Her eyes grew wider as she learned more of their unique build and the mouth watering sensation soon entered her, she felt whole again. She wanted to build one of these.

"Winry…"

Winry looked up from the book to see Edward's father in the doorway. She waved on instinct and shut the book after memorising the page.

"When did you get back?" She asked.

"Just then… I was wondering if you were hungry, I'll make you something."

"Sure. Just some warm soup like usual, I think it will help Edward." Winry looked down at the man who seemed to be breathing a little easier now. His father nodded with understanding and turned to leave. Winry thought on whether she should ask his father or not, but the curiosity was too much to handle and she shouted out for Hohenheim, freezing him in the doorway.

"This rocketry…"

"Ah… I see you have found the very first book Edward discovered on that subject…" Hohenheim entered the room, knowing that there were many more questions to come.

"I recall Edward talking about it sometimes and well, wondered-"

"Wondered what he was doing with it?" Hohenheim cut off, glancing down at his peacefully sleeping son. Winry swallowed then nodded.

"He thinks it will help him on the journey home, you must know that. Surely he has told you?"

Winry gripped the sheets and shook her head. "No he hasn't said anything. In fact I think he is trying to hide this from me. He knows how much I could help him with things like this, and how much I would enjoy it. I can't believe he wouldn't tell me such a thing!" Winry looked away, and tried to suppress her anger. "I don't know what he is doing when he sneaks around behind my back… for all I know he could be-"

"Winry," Edward's father's tone was strong yet gentle; it was enough to freeze Winry in her place, "I can understand where he is coming from. Rocketry is very dangerous and he is getting himself in with some of the wrong crowds in order to gain information on it. Maybe he thinks it's his burden to bear alone, he doesn't need to get you mixed up with this."

"But he shouldn't be doing anything dangerous anyway! Just wait till he wakes up! I'm going to put my hands around his neck and strangle him!" She growled with frustration and tensed her fists.

"Winry, understand one thing. Edward will do anything to meet his brother again, even if it means his life. Something that would help him is your support right now." He gave her a knowing look as she sulked on the bed.

"My support? My goddamn support is all I give him! I have supported him in everything he has done. But why can't he see that…"

"You have to remember that Al is really all Ed has… he spent most of his childhood with him. He feels he has a responsibility to look after him…"

Winry bowed her head… feeling tears in her eyes. "Why doesn't he see? He does have more than Al; he has lots of people that care about him! You try so hard to make him see this too, and when will Ed realise that he has me!" She turned her head and so did his father. Edward didn't know what pain he inflicted upon the two of them with his stupid morals. They cared about him, and they wanted to help. "I just want to help him. You feel the same don't you?" She looked up at him with desperation, awaiting the reply she so longed for. "You wish that he would see that he has you now don't you?"

Hohenheim said nothing for a few moments and turned to walk towards the door. "I'm sure he will see it one day Winry. For now, just bear with him. I'll bring the soup."

Winry let her hands fall to her sides when the Professor left the room. When Edward woke she was going to have a chat with him. She was going to make him see that she could help with this project, he didn't have to bear it alone. She would too, she would share his pain. It's all she could offer to lift some of the burden from his shoulders.

"No matter what you say Edward, I'll be here. I'm going to stay by your side. Nothing is going to take me away."

She took his hand in hers once again as a sign of the promise she had just made to him. They had to stick together; they would get through this together somehow. Together.

**SATURN STARS**


	7. Chapter 7

**Taken Away: **Chapter Seven

When Ed woke the next morning, the first thing on his mind was inconceivable uneasiness… he didn't know why, but he knew he had forgotten something, and what? As the last few drops of sweat trickled down his body, Edward knew he could say goodbye to the sickness and get back to his regular duties once again, he couldn't waste any time.

He sat up slowly, trying to find his breath, he know today was going to be one hell of a long one. He pushed the bed sheets from his body. The room was empty apart from himself and the outline of Winry's body in the space next to him. It was still warm. Perhaps she had gotten up to make him breakfast again… she shouldn't have strained herself for his sake so much. He rubbed a sudden itch on his stomach and caught sight of a large book at the end of the bed.

"Rockets…" But what was it doing there? It was in that instant that he was worrying about how the damned book got there, that he suddenly remembered why today was so important.

Slapping his hand to his forehead, he let out a sound of deep frustration and panic. "Damn! I had an appointment with that Al guy today…" He had waited for his return patiently, and he wasn't going to wait any longer, despite the fact he wasn't feeling his usual self he would have to make do.

He stood up from the bed with haste and found various articles of his clothing around the room that allowed him to change. He didn't have time to think about why Winry had so much of his clothing. And it didn't matter that he could faintly smell Winry on his clothing because he didn't have enough time to even think about running into his own room to change.

He swung the bedroom door open to find his coat on the nearby hanger. He pulled it on and held his suitcase in his hand, ready for the day ahead of him.

When he reached the lounge room all he had time to notice was his father at the table reading the newspaper as usual, and looking smug about it for the strangest reason. Edward didn't notice the girl on the couch desperately taking in every word of the book she was reading

"Edward, you shouldn't be up." His father told him, not even lifting his eyes from the paper. It's like his father miraculously knew when he entered the room.

"I have to go to see that Al guy today. Tell Winry that I'll be back later." He turned for the door in a rush, not daring to take a look at the clock and discover how late he was going. At this rate he was going to have to catch a cab or something. He couldn't exactly afford that at the moment.

"You can tell Winry yourself!" Winry rose from the couch and snapped the new book she had discovered under Edward's bed shut. She closed her eyes and tensed her fists as Edward turned around to face her with a sheepishly apologetic face.

"W-winry… I thought you were asleep…" Edward rubbed the back of his head and shrugged.

"Well you thought wrong!" She opened her eyes suddenly and pointed. "Where are you going?!"

"Just to meet up with a friend!" Edward raised his hands in defence.

"You're not fully recovered yet! You wouldn't be running around like a maniac to just visit a friend. And if you were, it's a friend I should meet!" She leaned forward slightly, glaring at him suspiciously. It was then that he caught sight of the book she was reading and backed away.

"Okay… so my father told you what I'm doing…?"

"No! I found the hidden books and asked him myself! If you're going out to meet that young man your father told me about then I'm coming!"

"But Winry…"

"I'm already dressed so don't argue!"

"Winry, you can't!"

"I can, just watch me!" She stepped forward and took a handful of his coat in her hands and pulled him dangerously close. "If you don't stop keeping secrets from me, I'm going to have to punish you. Do you understand?" He didn't know whether to blush or become extremely terrified over their closeness or her expression, so he merely became confused instead.

"Today is important Winry. I don't need you tagging along." He said cautiously out of the side of his mouth, although after he'd said it, he had instantly wished she hadn't heard it.

"Tagging along?" She laughed as if she was mocking him, and pulled him down towards her even further. "Tagging along! Why, with my expertise on your new found 'rocketry' it will be you who is tagging along my friend!" He sighed at her comment and let out a breath of relief when she released him from her grip. He knew that it took much more than reading a few books to become an 'expert' as she'd put it. But she would eventually find out for herself.

"Maybe it won't be so bad if you let her accompany you Edward," his father folded the newspaper in his hands and looked over it to make eye contact with the two, "Winry could only help in the end… and most Patrons won't even think about funding a project if there aren't at least three people on the team."

What his father said was logical, and he found no reason to argue against it. But this was exactly what he hadn't wanted to happen. He was getting Winry involved… even though he desperately wished he could have her expertise on the job… he knew how seriously she would take it. When it came to Winry, she would push herself too hard just for his sake. He didn't want her to become pressured over anything at all.

"I want to help Edward…" He heard her tiny voice say from below him. His eyes widened suddenly when she took hold of his wrist. "I want to help you succeed so you can see your brother again." It was then that she raised her head with a small smile. "After all, I promised him that I would bring you back didn't I?"

He couldn't feel her hand through his glove, but suddenly he wished that he could. He blinked after her comment and did anything to avoid your gaze.

"Uh… yeah… your help would be nice."

The way her eyes lit up from his permission, made it all worthwhile.

**9876543210123456789987654321012345678998765432101234567899876543210123**

It was nearing noon when they arrived at the small place Edward had eaten at the last night he had discovered Winry. The memory of her torn and tattered clothes came flooding back into his mind, causing him to look away from her with shame… if only he had reached her sooner. His father had told him that he had done the best he could. As long as he didn't tell Winry anything about it, it wouldn't affect her at all. But he didn't see it that way. He didn't want any other dirty men to touch her with the wrong intentions, ever again.

"Edward… are you alright?"

He looked up from the ground to meet Winry's worried eyes with slight shock. "Oh… yeah, just thinking."

"I wonder, how is your auto-mail?" The walking slowed down slightly as Edward decided he was going to treat Winry to lunch. He hadn't really had the chance to test out his arm, but he could definitely move every finger, and when he tried to move, it no longer caused searing pain, which had to be a good sign, right? So he grinned and told her how wonderful it was, knowing it would make her happy.

"Why are we stopping?" She asked suddenly as he approached the counter to organise a table. "You have been telling me that we needed to rush all day, that's why I have been running for most of the time!" Winry complained.

"We have done well for time… I just realised we were closer than I thought." Edward shrugged. He noticed the sign on the wall he had read last time. '_Help wanted' _"So they are still looking for someone hey?" Edward muttered under his breath, chuckling to himself as he heard Winry complaining about her aches in the background.

"Why Edward! You're back again!" The woman came incredibly close to him and took his hands in hers.

"N-noah?" Edward backed away slightly when she attempted to kiss him on the cheek.

"Excuse me?" Winry appeared behind him with her hands on her hips, not looking too impressed. He didn't want a repeat of jealous best friend again… that's for sure. "Is this another one of your girlfriends Edward? She looks like Rose doesn't she? I never knew you had a thing for Rose!"

"I didn't!" Edward gulped, trying to avoid the angry glare Winry was throwing him.

"My my Edward, is this your girlfriend?" Noah held her hand to her cheek and smiled. "How adorable she is!" She grabbed hold of Edward's hand and pulled him towards the back of the restaurant. "I have just the couple seat for you two!"

"W-wait! Noah! You're hurting me!"

It wasn't long before the two were seated, uncomfortably close at that. Noah had taken their orders and dashed out to deliver them to the chef.

"How did you meet her?" Came the abrupt question from his all too subtle friend.

Edward turned his head to see Winry's arms crossed furiously over her chest. So she was still angry about that…?

"I came to eat here one day and she just started talking to me… I swear I don't even really know her!"

"It looks like she takes a fancy to you." Winry 'hmphed' crossing her legs for effect. "Aren't you just Mister popular, you even had my alter on your tail, isn't it too bad she doesn't know you for your true jerkish self like I do!"

"I thought we agreed not to be like this to each other?" Edward sighed, resting his head in his hand.

"Well that was _before _I realised you were going at it with two women."

"Would you shut up Winry? I don't have anything to do with them!" He still felt slightly sick, and his head was clouded with thoughts about what was to come with this Al. He didn't need a fight.

There was a pause for a moment where Winry contemplated his reply. The music in the background of the shop was all he could hear, and the gypsy dancers out the front of the shop as they danced, entranced both Winry and Edward for a moment, before she gave a small chuckle.

"I'll shut up for now because you are taking me to lunch. But don't think this is the end of it!" She gave him a small wink before taking a look at the menu.

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Edward heard the slosh of thick water as he walked towards his destination. Winter was almost ending and the snow was melting. However instead of snow they had to endure dreary rainy days instead. Winry had seen nothing but the horrible side of this place and he felt terrible for it. When 

summer came, he hoped he could help her enjoy herself… she always looked so upset. That's why the new found grin on her face was a pleasant surprise for him.

"That was really nice food despite its appearance, hey Ed?" Winry asked with her hands behind her back. She almost seemed to be stepping through the snow with a bounce, her cheeks tinged red from the cold.

"That's what I discovered last time." He smiled casually as he watched her skip through the slushy snow ahead of him. She was really happy for some reason… he would have to ask her why later. Maybe it was because she and Noah had begun talking to each other like they were best friends. Winry didn't have a problem with her once she had sworn that she didn't have any feelings for Edward. It had certainly seemed to melt the tension away as fast as the snow was melting, that was for sure.

After a few more painful steps, Edward stopped in front of a familiar house. Winry turned to look at him with curiosity and then redirected her attention to the front door of the house.

"I've been anticipating this moment ever since…"

"So this is the place?" Winry crossed her arms over her chest and squinted as if she was scrutinising the building to pieces. "Doesn't exactly look like…" She trailed off after looking up at Edward. It wasn't the time to make him upset.

They ascended the steps slowly and Edward took a deep breath as he held out his hand to knock.

"Now remember, be polite." Edward gave Winry a flat look and met the cold surface of the door to knock.

The pair took a deep breath as they heard it open and froze in shock at the man standing before them. "Hello how can I help you?" He asked politely, blinking at the unfamiliar faces that seemed startled before him.

Winry merely gasped and raised her hands to her mouth. Edward couldn't find the strength to do anything but stare.

"I didn't know he would look like him!" Winry leaned over and whispered into Edward's ear, realising that she would have to act fast before Ed fainted.

"I'm sorry… do you two want something?"

"Ah, I'm sorry! You just look a lot like someone we know! Ummm may we come in for a minute? We want to discuss your project with you." Winry laughed and waved her hand as if to chase away the rudeness they had shown him when they had first seen his face.

"Oh really? Sure come in."

He seated them in the lounge room and hurried off to the kitchen to grab some tea. Winry glanced over at Edward worriedly, his hands were covering his face, and she knew better than to talk to him at this moment. She could only hope that she wouldn't have to do all the talking for the day. She didn't exactly know what Edward wanted for terms and conditions.

Al soon returned, handing the two their tea. Winry took a slight sip and let the warm tea calm and soothe her throat ready for talking, before meeting the young man's gaze.

"So what brings you two here…?"

"We are both very interested in rocketry and believe we can help. We also need funding for anything, so we thought it would be best to come and see you, since you are trying to find a patron of course." Winry placed her hands on her knees and smiled.

"Both of you? You mean a woman? You want to work on this? Do you think I am insane?"

Winry tensed her fist at his comment and swung her hair over her back. _Keep cool… this is the way things are here._

"Forget the fact that I am a woman, and just look at me for my skills and what I can bring to this project." Edward still hadn't said a word. He was just staring at Al with disbelief and she was starting to get frustrated with his more than childish antics. What time of guy would leave a lady in this stressful situation?

"That's all well, but I don't have any proof of your skill." He replied flatly. This comment didn't phase Winry at all however, as he was completely right. Of course he would want proof. She wasn't worried at all about getting that proof to him either. She merely stood up and removed Edward's glove.

"See this? Edward lost his limbs when he was little; I am the one who created this arm for him."

"A fake metal arm is nothing extraordinary."

"Hmm, fake you think? This product is auto-mail, and wires within are connected to Edward's nerves. He can move it like a normal arm in other words. I am constantly improving it and the weight is no longer a problem for him." Al's eyes widened at her comment and he moved forward with intrigue. "Go on Edward show him." For a moment she was frightened that he wasn't going to shift, but after a small number of seconds he tensed his fist and placed his arm on his knee.

"That is unbelievable… I have never seen anything like it. That would have to be the most highly advanced piece of technology I have ever come across… Why aren't you distributing this world wide? Do you know how much money you could make? How many people you could help?"

Winry closed her eyes with aggravation and fell back down onto the couch next to Edward. "That's not what I want. I do it to help Edward… that's all I care about."

Al glanced at her doubtfully before touching onto the next issue. "But this Edward… what can he offer."

"Why Edward?" Winry began to express amusement at his comment, leaving Al quite puzzled. "He has to be the smartest person I know. He can figure out anything if you just give him some general knowledge… he is a prodigy!"

Al nodded knowingly. "I see, yes the smartest ones are always disabled."

Winry frowned at his comment and speculated whether he was referring to Edward's loss of limbs or not. Surely he couldn't think Edward's intelligence was related to such a thing? And surely he wasn't that discourteous?

Edward also looked somewhat upset over the comment, yet however held his tongue while Winry spoke up to enquire just what exactly Al meant by his ignorant remark.

"Why… Edward isn't disabled… his limbs work fine, it is of no disadvantage to him…"

"No I mean, he is a mute. Most intelligent people seem to be either crazy or disabled in one area that makes them completely useless except for their brain."

"Are you an idiot? I can talk!" Edward snapped, bashing his hands down onto the coffee table in front of him.

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"Well Edward… you really didn't give him any other choice but to think that… You hadn't said a word the whole time." Winry told him realistically, taking her last bite from the stake that had now turned cold.

"Either way dad… he wants Winry and I to go live with him. He works on everything in the basement of his home; it's like the families' lab. But once we get to actually building it we will be moving to the hanger." Edward said, placing his drink down on the table carefully. He chewed the meat that had almost turned cold with some difficulty and made a face.

"If you had come to dinner when it was ready then it wouldn't be cold, so don't complain!" Winry said rightly, raising her head in the air.

"Winry, it's as tough as god knows what!" Edward quarrelled, swallowing the piece he had chewed for three minutes.

"That's your fault!"

Hohenheim glimpsed between the two before smiling gently. "I guess it can't be helped… I'll go with you two." This statement literally caused Edward's eyes to depart their sockets for a moment before Winry placed her hand on his to calm him.

"Edward I think it's a good idea! Besides your father can help us with the project, it will be easier to find a patron if a University Professor is working on it too."

"But it's a long way from the University old man, how are you going to manage?" Edward asked, looking away obstinately before glaring at Winry for clamping her hand over his.

"You don't know what they will do to have me at that University Edward, I'm sure they would arrange a carpool for me every day."

"Well aren't you just lucky you joined that stupid Thule thing, whatever. They have all the power don't they? Why don't you tell me what goes down in those meetings?" Edward had been wary of them all from the start, yet he had not heard a murmur of what was going on down there. Not one at all. "That Haushofer and Hess are members too aren't they?"

"You know that Thule is taboo with me Edward, you're not going to get any information out of me. Not tonight anyway."

"You're lucky I don't really care about what you do with those old freaks. Otherwise I would find out." Edward rose from his chair and collected Winry's plates along with his, completely disregarding his father's.

"So for the project Winry, I will help out whenever I can." Hohenheim nodded towards her, to hear Edward scoff from the kitchen.

"Will you grow up Edward?" Winry yelled back, standing from the table with a yawn. "I'm totally worn out from today! But thank you for agreeing to help Professor." Winry stretched and yawned once again, causing Edward to watch her closely when he re-entered the room.

"You can't go to bed yet! I'll leave without you tomorrow morning if you're not packed!" Edward warned, slightly entranced by how her hair cascaded down her back with her movements. It was getting much longer.

"Right right, I'll go pack now. But then I'm heading to bed for the night, so goodnight you two." She departed from the room with more yawns, leaving Edward with a chuckle and smirk on his face.

"How are things between you two…?" His father suddenly asked out of nowhere in particular. Edward put up a defensive face once again and retrieved the book that Winry had left on the table.

"Fine" He countered flatly. He was sick of having these 'treat women right' conversations.

"Have you sorted out those fights?"

"Yes, I think so."

"So how was your date today?"

"It wasn't a date!" Edward growled, turning to walk back to his room scrupulously.

"I think that Winry is your true heart's desire you know?" Edward froze with his hands on the wall. Something about the way his father had made that statement didn't leave him with resentment or annoyance; it left him with curiosity and minor confusion. For once his father's tone was serious, and Edward could tell he wasn't just teasing him. So Edward turned his head vaguely and gave his father a curious gaze.

"What do you mean by that?" His father contemplated the question for a moment and shrugged. "Do you mean that I'm happy because my childhood friend is back with me? Or do you mean something more dangerous?" Edward's eyes turned to slits as he watched his father warily.

"Hmmm I wonder…" Hohenheim stood from his chair. "I know a lot about it Edward… After all, I myself didn't realise how much in love I was with your mother until it suddenly hit me. Your situation kind of reminds me of your mother and I… that's all. Do you know we hated each other at first?"

Edward stepped back into the room with intrigue. His anger at his father for leaving and deserting him and his family had certainly not passed. But at least he could understand his father's reasons why. And this conversation left him interested beyond belief. For a moment he forgot about the fact his father was using his love life in comparison to him and Winry, and merely wondered about how his mother and father had met.

"Really…?"

"Yep, we fought all the time; she even threw things at me."

"Really, mum threw things at you?" Edward grinned. "Well you probably deserved it."

"Hmm sounds familiar doesn't it?" His father raised his eyebrow at his son slightly. However Edward's mind was vacant of any Winry-related thoughts. "It wasn't until I realised that she only did these things because she cared for me and loved me deeply that I realised I felt the same way. It took a while… but we realised how much we loved each other, how much we needed each other."

"Hahaha! I can't believe she threw things at you! Mum's the best!" Edward smirked and turned to abandon the depressing room for his warm bed. He was satisfied on this topic for tonight. "You deserved more than one beating."

"Doesn't Winry tell you how much you deserve it when she hits you?"

Edward once again froze. "Are you suggesting that Winry and I are in love with each other because she hits me?" Edward turned his head with shock and opened his mouth to disagree. "Winry and I are completely different to you and mum!"

"What do I know? I'm just an old man who has seen this pattern more than once. But I guess in the end, only you can discover for yourself. I'm going to leave you two alone for now because you're both so stubborn, but it hurts to see a repeat of what happened to me and Trisha. If I hadn't been so stupid, I could have had so much more time with her."

"Winry is…"

"You never know how much time you have left Edward."

"Winry is… COMPLETELY DIFFERENT OKAY!" He stormed from the room before his father spat out any other garbage that caused him to blush. So that's what he meant. _'True hearts desire' _what the hell was that anyway? He had never known a true desire if it had hit him.

"Stupid old man, he doesn't know anything." Edward whispered to himself as he jumped underneath the covers of his bed bitterly.

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It was early in the morning when Winry first heard the knock on the door. She had been rugged up with a blanket on the couch and stuck within a book. Edward was still in bed, and his father had left for university already. He had to make plans about moving his furniture and such to a nearby place. Winry was just about to head into Edward's room and wake him when she heard it.

She stood from the couch with a yawn and stretched her toes before walking towards the frightfully annoying repeating noise.

When she opened the door she was greeted by no other than her alter, who looked quite disappointed to see her if she thought on it. Winry stared at her for an instant before trying to be polite.

"Can I help you?" Winry leaned on the door somewhat and gave the girl a blank expression that had no chance of reflecting her evil jealousy inside.

"Oh Winry… I just was wondering if Edward was free today, I thought we could maybe go out. Of course you could come too."

Winry couldn't help but feel doubtful over her 'noble' comment. Oh yeah, she could come alright, but what alter-Winry was really saying was 'I want alone time with Edward'.

"Well he is still in bed… and quite busy today because we are moving, but I can wake him up for you?" Winry worded her sentence carefully, this woman at the doorstep would not want to annoy Edward at all, and waking him in the morning was something that considerably annoyed Edward.

"Oh… no that's fine. I guess you two are busy. Do you know where you are moving to?" She asked hopefully, rubbing her hands together to warm them from the blistering cold of the morning.

Winry put her finger to her chin. "No… I have forgotten," which was of course a lie. Alter-Winry seemed slightly let down. "But I can wake Edward." Winry smirked as the girl shook her head with disapproval.

"No it's fine… Just tell him to keep in contact okay? I have found out some information on rocketry, and I would love to join that project he was telling me about."

"I see… I'll let him know." Winry told her, with no intention of ever letting Edward know about this encounter she had experienced with the alter-her. She shut the door with a sigh after Alter-Winry had walked away with a terribly upset face.

"I'm a nice girl…" Winry couldn't help but feel guilty already over her actions a few moments a go. "It's like when he is involved I become some sort of evil monster!" She sulked on her realisation and couldn't help but smile slightly. "I'm so bad…" Winry threw herself up against the front door. She just wanted to protect Edward from all these women… after all he deserved someone who truly cared right?

"You're bad?"

Winry turned her head with a jolt to fixate her eyes on Edward standing nearby the kitchen, scratching his stomach as usual. He yawned and headed for the fridge, already losing interest in her 'bad' comment with his messy long blonde hair falling down his back.

"Who was at the door?"

It was at that moment she decided to tell him. She had been thinking… and if Edward really liked anyone, who was she to… get in the… way.

"It was Winry; she wanted to spend the day with you." She heard Edward chuckle from the kitchen and felt slightly relieved. "She also told you to keep in touch with her because she had some information on rockets."

He appeared in front of Winry with the bottle of orange juice and began to gulp it down.

"Probably nothing I don't already know." He proclaimed after wiping the juice that had overflowed from his moth and dripped down his chin. Winry had found her eyes following the falling juice down his chin, before running them up to meet his lips in a sort of trance. "Right Winry?" He took another sip and scratched his head. "I mean I checked out her stuff and she isn't that great… she has restrictions placed on her because of her gender though…"

"Edward! I have to drink that juice as well you know?" Winry cried, making up for the embarrassment she felt from gazing at his lips like a woman lost in space. She placed her hands on her hips and stepped forward. "How many times have I told you not to drink out of the bottles? If you're not careful one day, I'll fill that bottle with milk and you won't know because you haven't poured it into a cup!" Winry threatened, snatching the bottle from his hand, her slightly tinged cheeks still not fading from her conscience.

"Aww come on Winry, I don't care when you drink out of it."

"Well too bad we aren't all savages." With that she giggled and took a swig of it herself.

"See, not too bad is it? We've known each other since we were like… one… I think we can drink out of the same bottle." Edward rolled his eyes.

"And if that was the case then we would be kissing each other!" Winry then rolled her eyes and shoved the bottle back into his arms. "Don't let me catch you doing it again."

"Uh… okay…" He looked down at the bottle with confusion then at Winry's back as she turned into the hallway. "That was an indirect kiss…" He whispered to himself with uncertainty.

"Get dressed Edward! I'll do your hair for you!" He heard her yell from the bedroom. She returned a few minutes later with her suitcase to see him still standing there with the bottle.

"Thank the lord we are catching a cab… could you imagine me dragging this along all the way to Al's place?"

"No I really can't. But I can imagine you dumping it off on me and skipping ahead with no worries!"

"Hmm yes I'd probably do that." Winry grinned and patted his chest with force. "Isn't it good you're such a big man now?" She said with a baby voice, turning to flop down on the couch.

"I already told you not to make fun of me!"

"Sorry can't help myself…" She smirked.

"Well it's great you're in such a good mood because you got to bed early. But I had to stay up and listen to my father lecture me about…"

"About what?" She sat up with curiosity; she always did get a kick out of Ed and his father combating.

"Mmmm never mind." He decided against telling her and pulled on his dress shirt.

After dressing he handed her the brush and tie before he sat down on the couch in front of her.

"Are you excited?" Winry asked, pulling his hair into position. He liked it when she did his hair because she always massaged his head first.

"I don't get excited."

"Sure you do! Working with Al could be our big chance to get home. I'm excited!" Winry rose on her knees to be able to reach the top of his head and played around with his hair for a moment.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just sick of getting my hopes up and being let down." He shut his eyes and leant against the couch.

"I won't let you be let down okay?" She said softly, finally tying the band around his hair.

He didn't exactly know what to say to her comment so he kept silent for a moment, leaning against the couch in comfort knowing Winry was behind him in some kind of thought as well.

"How long till the cab arrives." Edward asked sleepily.

"Ten minutes…" She whispered back with some trouble.

"We better not fall asleep." He told her, rubbing his eyes slightly.

"Well we didn't get to bed till late, and I woke up early to finish packing and to read."

"That's not my fault." He snapped back, standing from the couch with intentions to grab his own suitcases.

"I never said it was!" She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head on her knees while Edward disappeared for a moment. He, unlike Winry had a lot of luggage.

"Isn't it supposed to be the other way round?" Winry asked him, standing from the couch with a stretch.

"What is?"

"Well… the girl usually has a lot more luggage then the boy…" Winry nodded towards his five suitcases and pointed towards her one to show Ed that he was clearly acting like a girl.

"Well yeah, but in this case the so called 'girl' has only been living in the new place for a couple of weeks."

"I guess… that's still a lot Edward, are you sure we can fit it in the car?" She asked him with concern, opening the front door to be met by lightly falling rain. "Oh great it's raining too, just what we need."

They pulled the horrific amount luggage out onto the doorstep (mind you Winry was slacking off quite a bit) and locked the door behind them. They squashed up underneath the tiny bit of shelter to avoid the rain and waited for the car to arrive.

"Kind of cold out here…" Winry complained, following the passing cars with her eyes in a sort of ritual. She slowly raised her eyes to watch Edward shiver in the wind that was flying by them regularly, sprinkled with the light droplets of rain that fell down on the tips of her eyelashes. She was being shielded from the wind due to his height and she couldn't help but notice that he was allowing her to take more of the shelter from the small roof overhead. Whether it was intentional or not, she didn't know or care. She frowned at the sudden realization and stepped closer to him, wrapping her delicate arm around his.

His shivering instantly ceased and his accusing gaze began. He had only turned his head slightly when Winry pulled him back towards the door with her. This way neither of them had to be hit but the rains chilling freeze.

"It's better this way." She answered him with a smile when his gaze seriously questioned her intentions.

"I was fine the way I was before." Edward spat, attempting to pull his arm away. This was too weird after his father's lecture last night. She instantly pulled him back when he broke free and stomped her foot loudly, her heels clicking at the cement floor.

"Well I wasn't, I was getting wet! And this way neither of us are! What's up with you?" She screamed with protest as his struggling almost caused her to fall over. He finally broke free and 

stepped down the stairs to lean against the railing. She watched him with disbelief as he crossed his arms over his chest, red cheeks from the cold or embarrassment, or perhaps both.

"You can have it to yourself then." He huffed.

"You'd rather stand out in the rain so I don't get wet at all?"

"No! So I don't have to be all squashed up against you with your arm around mine and your body pressed against mine… and your hand linking with mine … and eventually your head resting on my shoulder!" He protested, not daring to look her in the eye.

She brushed her coat off slightly as she tried to take in his fast heated words. "That was a bit descriptive don't you think? Aren't you a little odd this morning?" She raised her eyebrow and leant back against the door.

"Ha if only you knew!" He retorted with insane laughter. "Stupid old man, it's your entire fault."

If he would rather insult her by standing out in the rain then she wasn't going to talk to him for the rest of the day. "You're that repulsed to be squashed up to avoid the rain for a few seconds… well fine then." She was then the one to place her arms over her chest in anger.

"No because that's stuff couples do!" He then turned to look her in the eye with face that was clearly touched by embarrassment. "And we aren't a couple!" He raised his finger and voice. "And we never will be a couple!"

"You know, I actually find that rather insulting, we are friends you know, what are you saying?"

"WHAT?" He squeaked after trying to process her sentence.

"That you'd never consider me to be good enough to be that kind of woman to you." She looked away to observe the nearby trees blowing in the wind as she awaited his reply, and gently tapped her heels on the cement beneath her to pass the time.

"But you're the one who said you didn't want to anyway…" He answered with some trouble, his voice almost being taken from her by the wind.

"Whatever Edward, I never said you weren't good enough for me though. That's different! I'm not good enough for anything am I? Not good enough to wear your clothes. Not good enough to talk about rocketry with. Not good enough to even try to help you at all!"

"Oh god! It's only been two weeks and we are already arguing about this stupid stuff! I'm so over it! Just like that time back at Risembool when you-"

"That time I begged you not to go? That time I braided your hair? And don't think I forgot about what you asked of me at the train station that time you left me for good either! I'm not a stupid sixteen year old anymore; I know what you meant now! Because I remember!" She stood up straight as she saw the tiny speck of a taxi in the distance.

"What…?" Edward asked with some trouble. "I didn't say anything to you."

"Oh yes you did." She laughed sarcastically.

"Well I don't remember." He raised his nose stubbornly, still unaware of the taxi that was now close to the house. Winry promptly picked up her luggage at that comment and pretended not to be the slightest hurt over his comment. She briskly walked past him on the stairs with her nose in the air to match his. _It was the first time you held me…_

"Well I guess if you don't remember then I don't have to wait for you anymore."

He knew exactly what she meant by the remark, because he of course remembered exactly what he had said to her at the train station after trying to calm her tears. He watched her open the boot to the car for a moment with deep sadness, unaware of the car even being there. Why did he always have to be so stupid?

It took about ten minutes just for the two men to get everything into the car. And Winry sat in the back seat with three suitcases next to her. She glared at Edward who had taken the front seat. "Hmph, good! I don't have to look at your face then!" She mumbled under her breath.

"You can sit in the front of you want!" Edward complained at her sour face.

"Hmm…. no!" She argued. The fact he had dashed for it had put her off enough. Gentlemen were supposed to offer. Here he was saying… _'Wellllll takkkkkkke it if you muuuuuuuuuuust' _As if she was going to take it when he offered like that. She'd prefer the company of the suitcases to him sometimes.

As they drove off into the morning, Winry found herself staring out into the distance, lost in the sadness of an old memory she had treasured deep inside.

"_I know you will come back… I know, Edward it just feels so wrong! Can't you and Al just stay one more night?" She glanced up into his eyes that were covered by black sunglasses with tears blurring her vision. He then grabbed her by the shoulders forcefully. _

"_I don't know when I'll be back Winry, but promise that you will just wait okay! I have things I want to tell you, and there is still so much we have yet to do together. Just wait and I promise okay?" _

"_But Ed what do you mean? Why can't you just tell me?" Her tears fell harder as she saw the dark bangs fall down his face. "You're disguising yourself, how bad is this!?" It was the next action he had chosen to take that had frozen her to the spot. He had wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and dug his head into her shoulder. "Edward…"_

"_I mean don't go falling in love with anyone okay Winry, just don't." His voice sounded desperate and she had no idea why._

"_But Ed… I'm sure I can tell the right type for myself, I don't need your permission." She closed her eyes at his embrace and continued to feel tears spill from her cheeks._

"_Just wait for me. Promise." _

"_I promise, but ahh wait!" It was as soon as she had said those words that he had wanted to hear that he dashed towards the leaving train, leaving her on the platform with nothing but an empty promise._

"I promised to wait for you Edward Elric."

**SATURN STARS**


	8. Chapter 8

**Taken Away: **Chapter Eight

"Welcome, welcome!" Al exclaimed with pleasure as the two less than happy troopers arrived at the door, slightly soaked by the now pouring rain outside. "Cheer up! We have three people now and the patron is here to meet you, where is your father Ed?" Al looked between the two sour faces and sighed slightly.

Today was an extremely big day for all of them. Al had cleaned conscientiously for the past three hours to make the house absolutely perfect for them and their guests. Their sour faces weren't going to help the situation. He had noticed that they were an odd couple from the first time they had entered his house, and he had hoped that they wouldn't be distracted by any of their lover's quarrels.

"Edward's father has just been caught up with some work, but he will be along later sometime. Maybe not even tonight, he has to organise some things…" After Winry had answered him as politely as she could she returned to her 'stay away from Edward' mission, and took a step to the side.

The three of them stepped forward into the lounge room to be greeted by an old man and his young daughter. It had taken less than a handshake for Edward to realise that this man had a terrible dark secret about him. Edward watched the patron's greedy eyes with suspicion as they scanned Winry with desire. And he'd paid extra close attention when the Parton had extended his hand to Winry and kissed her gently when she offered it back.

It was when Edward turned his attention to the prettily decorated daughter of his that he took a step back into Winry, which he instantly discovered, was a big mistake.

"If you touch me again, I'll stick my wrench through your stomach without hesitation." He could almost feel the anger pulsating through her body and increased the distance between himself and her by quite a lot. He didn't quite exactly feel up to the task of playing gentleman to this man's daughter that was definitely 'alter Rose' and put on a slightly sulky face as she was introduced to Winry.

"Hi I'm Rose." The bright pink hair blurred his vision for a moment as he had been too focused on how he was going to explain himself to Winry. He flinched slightly when she shoved her hand in has face.

"I know."

"So you are Hohenheim's famous son… wow, you certainly do have wisdom about you."

When Edward decided to finally look up to meet her eyes he blushed at her admiring gaze upon him. He could almost feel Winry's eyes watching him like a hawk from the corner and diverted his attention to the lovely lamp in the corner of the room instead.

"And it most certainly is a shame that you cannot be here to see the professor Sir. But he most definitely will be helping us with the project." Al piped up, taking the opportunity to show off the wonderful prize on the team. Professor Hohenheim, it sort of did have a prestigious ring to it.

"Why, most certainly, Professor Hohenheim and his famous son Edward. I know your father Edward, and I am most reminded of him by you." The Patron briskly walked past Winry as if to completely ignore her and grabbed hold of his daughter. "It's time to go Rose!" Edward and the rest of the group watched with disgust at the violent way he treated his own daughter and blinked when she stopped slightly to gaze at Edward.

She gave Edward a huge smile before walking off with her father. "Let's go out sometime okay Elric?" She bowed politely and with that the tension instantly eased from the room.

"Wow… he is extremely rich. I think we did well." Al said with certain vigour, watching as Winry merely looked away with tensed fists. Al swapped an amused face with Edward's gloomy one when they both noticed her intense anger and frowned. Edward was about to sarcastically mention that she was always fuming about something but decided against it. He realised it was probably his guilt speaking.

"I don't like that stupid girl or her father! Did you see the way they were looking at me? And did you see the way she was looking at you! Oh but I bet you enjoyed that after all, since I'm not good enough. Perhaps if I dressed in a puffy pink stupid dress like her I would be." Winry pointed to her man's jacket with a sarcastic expression on her face. She was a tomboy, always had been.

"Winry, you are getting angry at me when I haven't even said anything… please can we just forget about that argument?" Edward slapped his metal hand to his forehead without even thinking about the consequences and hissed at the sudden pain. It didn't compare to Winry's death stare though, and her new found infuriation caused him to instantly forget the actual physical pain.

"Why don't you just go out with your new girlfriend?" She turned towards Al who looked slightly exhausted by the whole thing and stomped her foot. "Well where is my room? Do you expect me to stand here all day with him?"

"Uh of course not…" Al replied with slight confusion, hoping he had gotten the answer right. The amount of tension in the room was enough to snap his house in two.

"Winry, I don't even know that stupid girl! She doesn't know me either, how can you think we are already interested in each other?" Edward whined, giving Winry a pleading look. "Be reasonable Winry! You can't get angry at me if she was giving me some look, which she probably wasn't!"

"Like I care, you can do what you want. You obviously don't know when a woman is dropping hints!" Winry headed towards the room Al had pointed at with caution and slammed the door behind her, leaving Edward with his head in his hands and a huge sigh.

"She really is pissed at me… just because I said I don't remember! Gah! I have stuffed up big time now."

"Ah… I see you two have some problems with your relationship…" Al patted Edward on the back and sighed. "But cheer up Edward, we need to start working soon, I don't want either you or your girlfriend to be in this mood. Couple troubles can really get you down." Al took his hand away when Edward groaned with annoyance.

"Do we really act like a couple that much? It's all the fighting isn't it? Only couples do it! We act like an old couple!" He flopped down onto the couch and sighed at the realization. Every fight they got into was soooo pathetic, it was enough to make him want to sink into the couch and disappear. "We aren't one though okay? We are just friends! We just fight a lot, it's all her fault."

"Well if you are going to look at it like that then you will keep fighting. I'll go make up some lunch."

Edward thought on his comment before continuing to sulk. Winry could be terrible when she was angry, and this time he knew he had deeply hurt her. Hurt her so much that she had put on this frustrated front to try and hide what was going on inside. She was probably crying now… this time the fight wouldn't disintegrate unless he tried to talk to her. He wasn't afraid of actually talking and apologising anymore was he?

"Now Ed, since you have come all this way, why don't I shout you a drink?" Al grinned at him before picking up his winter coat and some cash off the bench. He went to walk towards the door, however paused. He turned around to see Edward glancing between Al and Winry's room, both with longing.

"Don't worry about Winry Ed. She wants to be alone. Give her some space and come out." Al nudged his elbow in the direction of the door. He had been up stressing late last night making preparations to meet the Patron. Now that he had been successful with the patron and had acquired a team of highly skilful men, and woman... he guessed, it was time for him to celebrate the way all Germans did with a big beer, or a few.

"I just got to tell her she will be insanely mad if she comes to find us and we are gone..."

Al walked over to Ed's side swiftly, and linked his arm with his. Edward glanced at his face for a second and suddenly forgot Winry. Brother...

"Leave her be," Al hauled Ed towards the door, rapidly picked up Edward's warm winter clothing, and threw it over his shoulder. "Let's just celebrate that we have found each other. We have come together on this project and have a super rich patron." Al laughed steadily at the dumbfounded expression plastered across Edward's face. "Your dad warned me that you had lived in London most of your life."

Edward flinched as he was pulled out into the street that was settling down as the sun started to set.

"I have a lot to teach you about the differences between how the German's say thank you for their blessings, and how the British do. A whole ten kegs of beer difference." Ed sighed at Al's comment and mumbled under his breath 'I don't remember you being such a drinker Al'. Then again his twelve year old brother back home wouldn't be would he? And his previous brother that had his soul stapled to a giant suit of armour never got the chance to take it up either did he. Ed smiled, he had gotten accustomed to drinking with the German's, he had do keep up with the appearances after all. Perhaps a drink would calm down a bit.

"Come on Ed, I know a great place it's just up here!"

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"So where exactly is she from?" Al asked before turning his intrest to the waitress. He slapped a some money down on the table and hailed for her attention?

"Another beer?" She called out from across the room, dashing to the table to collect his money. Al shook his head. "Two thank you miss." She took down the order with a rushed scribble, sighing with exasperation as a rowdy drunk ran past violently and caused her notepad and pen to fall to the ground. Ed watched sympathetically as she bent to pick it up and gave the two a small smile before running off again. Al once again turned his attention back to Ed.

"Who?" Ed asked forgetting who they had been talking about.

"Winry!" Al protested. "I really think you have had too much to drink Edward." He added.

"Winry is from..." He was about to say that she was his childhood friend, but remembered that His father had told some important people she was from somewhere... where was it again? He decided she could be his childhood. Yeah, she had just been living somewhere else while he was in London. That was it. "She is my childhood friend, from Berlin. We got split up ago about seven years ago when I went to London." He was a bit tipsy, but then again so was Al and he thought that comment would suffice. He did know however that he didn't just needed it to suffice, he needed it not to cause trouble with anyone either.

"Oh, a Berlin beauty as we call it here."

Edward waved his hand. "She _is _beautiful isn't she?"

Al cracked a smile. He had taken Edward for someone who was a little introverted. It was funny to see him in this state. But Al was glad he had taken him out for a drink. If there was one thing that was important, it was to get drunk with your work partners in the aspiration to get to know them much better.

"Yeah, I have had like 50 crushes on her, don't tell her that though." Edward's head drooped down to the table.

Al sighed. "I thought she was just a friend?"

"Yeah she is, just I haven't seen her for so long. Last time I saw her she was just a child..."

"So when did you lose your arm?" Al suddenly cut in.

Edward had to think about how to answer that as well. He knew that if he strayed too far from the truth the story would be too long and elaborate to remember later on. He wanted to avoid that as much as possible. God he just wanted to be in a bed right now, with Winry, with a woman. Looking around at all the bar hostesses Edward had only gotten wandering eyes. He knew how he got when he had drunk something. He turned into every other babbling man, that's why he tried to avoid it. He really wanted Winry right now, and the thought disgusted him. He was disgusted, and intrigued at the same time. She was a woman, living with him, who was beautiful. Why did he take that for granted? Warm bed... he felt his body tingle.

"Yer um Al... What?" Ed took another beer from the woman and gulped it down.

"Ed I don't think that's such a goo-" Al stopped as Edward fell unconscious on the table. He was alive and thriving again however a couple of seconds later.

"You ordered it bastard," Edward called out after his comment. "Winry gave me my auto mail!" He perked in. "I have it on my leg as well."

"Yes Ed, I know but my question was when did you get it?" Al pushed his own beer to the side after seeing the state Ed was in. If he let himself go any further in, the two of them wouldn't be able to make it home.

"I was seven, and I prefer not to talk about how I got it. But if your wondering, Winry's grandmother was a freak for all things mechanical. Winry has been helping on work with my arm from a young age. One day, she was able to make them herself."

Al nodded and grabbed his coat from the chair he was sitting on. He had learnt some information of Ed, but tonight wasn't the time to be asking him any more questions. Especially if he expected a coherent answer.

"I love her..." He heard Ed mumble from the table. "I fucking love her, I'm so fucking stubborn about it."

Al raised his eyebrows. _Just friends? _He was sure that they weren't when he had first met them. But after getting too know their situation better he realised that it really was a trap they had both got themselves into. They were childhood friends; to imagine anything different was much too strange for them. Even if deep down their hearts lied with each other. Al knew every man had needs. Had Ed ever even been with a woman before.

"Come on Ed." Al pulled him from the table, but to his astonishment Edward seemed quite able at holding himself up.

"She hates me now, I have to fix it."

"No, you have to get sleep because we have to fix some other things around the house tomorrow morning."

Edward followed Al to the door who was currently waving goodbye to the staff.

"Come again!" The girls waved with enthusiasm. Ed chucked them a toothy smile before being pulled out of the bar by Al.

"Man, I have to tell her I love her."

"I don't think she will really take to that well Ed," Al added after pushing his boots underneath his pants. Ed leant against the bar's entrance as Al toyed with his socks. He needed to make sure they were right for travelling home through the snow.

"Wasn't it supposed to be melting?" Ed muttered to himself, taking the initiative to start the walk home. Al was quiet behind him.

"My dad told me I loved her. It's just so fucked Al. Everyone knows me as someone who doesn't get close to people. My dad will think he has won if I admit it." Ed sighed.

"Yeah," Al agreed, he knew well the front Edward put on already. He was so tight he didn't even realise that there was the slightest chance he could have opened up after a few drinks. Alcohol was amazing...

Edward turned to face him suddenly. "You know I trust you Al."

Al furrowed his eyebrows.

"You have one of those faces." Ed placed his hands firmly on his shoulders. "Like a brother."

Al paused for a moment. "You really want my advice on it Ed?" Al waited until he nodded.

"I know you're planning to go into her room when you get home. Just try and break things to her without sounding like your drunk and horny."

Ed fell silent.

Reflecting on himself on the walk back home was the best thing he could do to soothe his mind. Was he just drunk and horny? Was any of this going to benefit Winry? Most of all would he even remember it in the morning?

When they reached the warm comfort of the dimly lit home Ed informed Al that if he needed him, he would be in Winry's room. He stood outside her door for the longest time, hearing the softest sobs come from inside, she was still crying. Maybe it was because she realised she was alone in the house. Man he felt even worse now...

If he knocked she would run to lock the door for sure, and then his hope would be lost. So he gently opened the door and peered inside. There she was, on the bed, head in pillow, snivelling.

He closed the door behind him and tiptoed to her side. As soon as he sat down on the bed she sat up with a start and tried to haul herself at him angrily.

"Don't you even knock?" She yelled, struggling to punch him in the face since he had taken hold of her wrists. "You are the worst! You can't do this to me! Where have you been Edward!"

"Al made me go out for a drink Win, to celebrate you know traditions here are hard to break." In that moment she smelt the beer on his breath and cringed away. What was he trying to pull?

"Ed let me go..." Winry quietened down slightly.

"I just want to talk!" He tried to shield himself and hold her wrists at the same time, and sighed with relief when she gave up. "Please, it's really hard for me to come in here and do this Winry. So don't hold up your defences. I'm sorry okay, I'm sorry that I said those horrible things to you, I'm sorry that I left you."

"You think you can treat me like crap and just come back in here and-" Her words were silenced as he pulled her towards his chest. She felt his arms wrap around her waist and widened her eyes against him, waiting for what he had to say next. Is this how he acted when he drank? She was frozen.

"This is what you want isn't it Winry?" His voice was deep, and she gulped.

"I don't even know why I say some things… I just do… I realised this time that I was stupid and…"

"They really did hurt my feelings Ed. You can't just come in here and hug me and think it will be better." Even though she had tried to sound annoyed at him, she hadn't pulled away from his generous embrace.

"I do remember what I said to you okay? Things are hectic at the moment and I haven't kept up my end of the deal. But our friendship has survived many more things Winry; we can get through this together. We will return home, we will." The contact had already soothed her, to know what it felt like to be hugged again. She wasn't home anymore where her grandmother would come in and hug her at night, or where she could enjoy a warm hug with Rose and her son. She had felt so 

alone in this world. His touch was like lightening dancing on her skin compared to contact with other people. She suddenly felt her eyes glaze over.

"I thought that I would be so lonely…" Winry closed her eyes and took in the man's scent. "Who could I run to? Who could I just go and be held by? I never thought you would take on that role for me."

"Well I will if that's what it takes."

"Somehow, this makes it all better."

He looked up at the ceiling with a blush as she nestled into his chest and took handfuls of his shirt in her hands. "I'm going to have to borrow some of your clothes to work in, is that okay?" Winry asked him. He had noticed it too. How alive he felt again, like when they touched they were half in this place and half in the place they longed to be. He wanted to kiss her. Was it the alcohol after all?

"Un… sure…"

"You're warm." She smiled widely and rested her head delicately on his shoulder, her hair intertwining with his as it fell down his back. "Promise me that you will never say anything like that again…"

"Like what?" He cocked his head and didn't realise her link her fingers with his.

"That you forgot one of our most precious promises." She held his hand tightly and closed her eyes, with intentions to stay with him like that for a while.

"I promise"

The three started on rockets straight away the next morning. Ed was the one to last rise from bed. But when he had, Winry was pointing out a mistake to Al down in the basement. He yawned before rolling his eyes at Winry and his clothes. She gave him a shy smile and waved when he entered the room, which he gladly returned. They had gained a mutual understanding of each other yesterday and he had a feeling that they weren't going to be arguing without an actual reason anymore. But didn't he say that all the time? He hoped they could keep up their deal for once. It would make everyone's life so much more stress free.

And he still remembered the burning urge he'd had to lay with her last night. He couldn't push it away and suddenly he felt like he was pursuing the woman in a way.

"Listen Al, I know that car wires go here on that part. But this machine wants to fly not drive; do you understand why we link it to this instead?" He gently nodded with a slightly furrowed eyebrow, as if he was trying to take in every detail Winry was telling him. _How could a woman possibly be better than him?_ Winry knew that was what was going through his head. But she felt like she had a kind of power over him, and she liked it.

She placed the piece of metal down on the desk next to Edward and grinned. "Right Edward?"

"You're the expert." Edward took a sip of his coffee and sorted through the available tools on his own portion of the large desk.

"But you said yourself it takes more than reading books." She whined.

"Well we have plans to follow Winry, but we are going to modify and go along with things. It's difficult to understand." Al raised the papers in her face and watched as she glanced at it with admiration.

"I love a challenge… something like this really gets me excited." Her eyes turned to slits as she thought of what she would do with the precious machine when she had completed it for good. Her own offspring. Part of herself. Something she could most likely destroy the world with. Edward and Al exchanged looks of exhaustion when an un-expected guest appeared in the room.

Rose slid her hand along the stone wall as she walked into the brightly lit work area. Her dress slightly dragged on the floor and she tried to suppress a disgusted look as she picked it up slightly to avoid the accumulating dust on the ground.

"Are you sure you should be working in such dirty conditions?" Rose turned to ask Edward who was staring with disbelief along with Al and Winry.

"How did you get in here…?" Al asked with slight confusion after bowing. No matter how upset he was that she had just waltzed into his house without being invited he had to hold his tongue. She was the patron's daughter, and he was the reason they were just getting by.

"Well the door was unlocked…" Her eyes scanned the room and her competition and she seemed to relax slightly after noticing Winry's matted hair that was pulled into a lazy pony tail.

"You can't just waltz into someone's house!" Winry disputed, stepping forward from behind Edward. Edward hit her lightly on the arm to remind her who she was talking to only to be met with a heated glare. He shrunk slightly and let her take the stage, this was a fight between two women and he didn't want to get involved with it.

The first thing Rose's eyes came across was the resemblance in Winry and Edward's clothing. What relationship were they having if he allowed her to wear his clothes? The rich woman fumed with jealously and felt her fists tense on her dress.

"Is it up to you? You tomboy! Who wears men's clothes anyway?" She argued, sticking her nose up at Winry slightly. Winry felt the anger boil deep inside, and knew that if she didn't get to take it out on this girl that she would be taking it out on someone she didn't want to be taking it out on. So she got ready for battle. "You could be a man couldn't you? Men's clothes and working on mechanics, why you are the worst girl I have ever come across!" She said with pride that Winry didn't know existed in stereotypical girls. Who in Germany could possibly be proud of being nothing but man's slave? Not Winry that was for sure.

"Oh why you!" Winry leapt forward with pulsing anger, ready to bash her fists into any part of the girl she could focus on. Edward instantly reached out and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back towards him.

"Winry!" He protested, doing his best to keep grip on her as she struggled in his arms with aggravation. "You don't know your place Winry!" Edward whispered. The look on Rose's face made Winry want to pounce even more. She had taken Edward's action as a gesture to protect her! He wasn't trying to protect Rose from Winry. He was trying to protect Winry from going to jail! That's what she thought anyway. No way would Ed be doing this for Rose's sake. Still that smug look remained pinned on the girls face as she observed Edward keeping a tight grip on the struggling girl.

"Let me go!" Winry grabbed her tools from the nearest desk and began hurling them in her enemy's direction. "You just think your Miss It don't you? With you stupid UNREASONBLE DRESS! As if I would be seen working in that you dumb, dumb prissy! Mechanics isn't a male's job! It's a job for whoever is smart enough, that obviously isn't you, why don't you go back to fluffing your dress!" She yelled with absolute infuriation, Edward could see the anger in Winry's colour and tried to calm her.

"Winry! That's too far!" Edward whispered under his breath only to look behind his shoulder at Al for help.

"Why don't you cook for them? Or bring them tea or something!" Rose replied after a moments wait. "They are probably starving!"

"Because Edward can get his own damned tea! He isn't retarded!" Winry slapped Edward's hands away as they were not needed to control her anymore. She crossed her arms over her chest and shut her eyes with a heavy intake of breath. _She isn't worth it! _

"Worst type of woman!" Rose muttered under her breath, daring to take a step too close to Edward after he had released the savage monster. Winry instantly snarled at her as she gave Edward a flirty smile. "But I didn't come here to waste all of my time on her, Edward." Rose 

smiled, giving Winry an evil side glare as Edward held out his arm to keep her away from Rose. "I meant to inform you all of a ball being held at my house, my father would of course like to introduce you to some important people so if you could all come…"

Winry had stood up straight now and looked up to exchange curious glances with Edward. "A ball?" She asked. "Like where you dance and take a partner…?"

"Yes, and actually Edward I'm free and a woman can't go unaccompanied of course."

"I'd be happy to take you!" Al took the liberty of answering, and he stepped forward with a smile.

Rose did not bother to keep the disappointment from her face and merely muttered thanks to the gentleman. Edward blinked at the odd behaviour going on in the room, and noticed Winry sigh with relief when Rose turned to leave. _That was weird._ He had just found out that Winry could get really violent against women who insulted her. That Al was amused by the arguing and wouldn't step up to say anything at all to help him. And that he himself was just a generally confused soul when it came to women.

"Make sure you dress like a _woman _Winry!" Roze snarled before slamming the basement door shut.

Winry stomped her foot and sent her wrench flying through the air, which Al skilfully dodged.

"OOOOOH! I can't believe her! Just watch I'm going to look better than anyone there!" Edward placed a calming hand on her shoulder, still dazed from the fast happenings. "And you! Don't you have something to ask me?" She pushed his hand away and stepped backward so Edward could see the length of her.

"Uhhh?" Edward scratched the back of his head with deep thought. "No?"

"Ugh! You are so clueless! I can't go alone! So I have to go with you! Are you going to take me or not?" Al seemed shocked at Winry's words and stepped forward to lower her hand.

"Winry… you can't ask the male, that's taboo. You can only give hints…"

"Do you think I give a crap about your taboo crap?" Winry whined, placing her hands firmly on her hips. She was obviously annoyed and Al wasn't going to push her.

"I guess not…"

"Well this male is clueless so I have to get the job done don't I?" Winry whispered back into his ear. Edward sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I was going to ask you of course, just when my mind was a littler clearer. I probably would have realised you needed a partner sooner or later and there is no-one I'd rather go with than my best friend."

Winry had nothing to say to his reply and merely shuffled back to his side to work on the project. The sound of metal tapping metal was all that could be heard from that basement for a long time.

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And if he could say that seconds were the same as minutes and minutes were the same as hours, he would… but he freaking couldn't! How long did it take a girl to get ready? Especially Winry? He had waited for seconds, and minutes, and now it was bordering 2 and a half hours. The girl could only try his patience so much before he stormed down the hallway and barged into her newly cleaned room with a very unimpressed look on his face. Possibly a couple of horrible words he shouldn't speak around a lady urging to get out of his mouth also.

"I wouldn't have agreed to take you if I knew you were a compulsive Winry!" Edward yelled from the couch, with his leg crossed over his other.

He was doing anything to keep himself amused… like looking at the white ceiling, which didn't prove to be the way to go about killing boredom. He tried twirling his hair around his fingers, but that phase didn't last long either. He was sent to the very point of insanity that he had just tried to shut his eyes and fall asleep. If Winry could take one hour delicately womanising herself or whatever it was the other sex did, then she could wake him up after she was finished!

"Freaking hell three hours I swear…" Edward mumbled to himself, picking up the magazine next to him. Not to say he hadn't noticed it yet, he had flicked through it about a hundred times. But a hundred and one wouldn't hurt.

"Are you really that impatient?" Her voice came from behind him and it instantly made him want to turn around and strangle her.

He turned around with an angered force surrounding him, muttering profanities. "Two hours what the HELL where you…" his eyes trailed to her and actually noticed her before he even had a chance to finish the sentence. After that he was at a loss. "…. doing?" His jaw dropped with absolute astonishment as she walked up to the back of the couch and bent to his level.

"Why I was working on some auto-mail stuff of course." She winked and patted his head before meeting him at the front of the couch. It took him a few minutes to register her migration. But he turned his head with a slight blush when she did. Her chest was very strategically exposed. It would be enough to give him nosebleeds for the rest of the night.

"You mean you worked on stuff in there while I waited…?" His voice wasn't even upset, not even the slightest bit raised or angered, merely calmed. But his eyes betrayed the reason why.

"Well the party doesn't start for half an hour… and we can walk there in about twenty right…? I didn't want to have to go to spend extra time with that stupid girl," he completely tuned out, hair down to her hips; dress accentuating her curves, lips painted the slightest pink, enough to make any guy anticipate her kiss. He couldn't believe his childhood friend was standing in front of him like this! In that dress which she looked gorgeous in… oh no he didn't just think that. He could only to blush a brighter red as he watched her lips move without hearing what was coming out of them, completely bewitched by their slightly curvy shape and soft look. "so in the end I really thought I was better off not saying anything after all that, right Edward?" She bent down slightly with a smile and extended her hand.

"Uh… yeah…" He kindly rejected her offer and stood on his own two feet. Making sure he had his balance before even attempting to walk forward a few steps.

"Aren't you even going to compliment me?" He heard the tapping of her impatient heel behind him and suddenly felt extremely guilty. He was so busy trying not to think about how good she looked that it probably came off like he was ignoring her completely. "I did spend an hour on it!"

"You really do look great, Winry." He held out his arm for her to take a hold of only to be walked past with a 'hmph' as a reply. It was a new habit of hers if he could guess. The gown slightly dragged along the ground with her movements. So she delicately lifted it up and waited for Edward to stumble his way towards the front door.

"It doesn't mean anything now. You're probably just saying it." The way she tightened her hands around her dress told him she was hurt. But what could he do now? He would try again and hope that she wouldn't be in a bad mood all night.

"Winry, I always think you look nice. But tonight you look really nice. I mean not that you don't always look really nice, but I guess I just think you look nice okay?" He took a deep sigh and placed his hand to the doorknob before giving it a slight push, only to be interrupted before fully opening the door.

"You think I always look nice?" She finally wrapped her arm around his after realising they may be battling some strong winds.

"Of course."

"You admit that?" She looked up at him with slight surprise and paid attention to his hands to make sure he was locking his door on the way out. His father was already waiting for them both at the ball.

"Why would I lie about it?"

"I don't know it just doesn't seem like an Edward thing to say!" She stuttered after the cool breeze hit her shoulders. She instinctively pulled Edward closer and dug her head into his arm for a moment.

"Well you don't know me then." Was his stupid argument. Of course she knew him, she knew him better than anyone in the world. This was probably only the second time in her life that he had ever commented on how nice she looked.

"Winry, where is your coat? I don't want you walking around that exposed in the streets of Munich anyway."

Winry raised her eyebrow at his comment and shrugged. "I couldn't find any of yours lying around…"

"Winry! Didn't we buy you one of those women's coats?"

"But they are so ugly Edddy!"

"Don't call me that already!" He let out a breath of frustration and began taking his heavy brown one off. "Look, take it then?" He extended his hand to her which held the jacket and gave her a soft smile. She shivered instinctively and knew it wasn't from the cold.

Winry reluctantly held out her hand to take it before jerking it back. "But then you will be cold…"

"I don't care, not as cold as you anyway."

"But I'd rather be cold than you be cold…"

"Well I'd rather be cold than you be cold!" He replied with a gentle smile. "You can pay me back some time later okay? But just take it tonight…"

She eyed him curiously, judging the situation before she pulled the warm coat that smelt like him to her chest and sighed. After having her dressed properly, the two set off for the ball again, wondering just what type of night was in store for them.

Winry stayed close by Edward's side as they entered the ridiculously large building. So many people out on the streets right before this beautiful building were dying or starving. Yet as Winry's eyes searched the ceiling's many jewels and art pieces, she couldn't help but notice that no-one really cared.

The place was mostly filled with old men who were very interested in Hohenheim's works and Edward's education. Winry noticed the shakiness in his voice as he had to make up a background of education in London.

But after realising that his old man and Al were conversing very close to Winry and himself, he just pointed the men in their direction. If they wanted to talk about his father, Edward would clearly state the fact that his father was right across the room. If they wanted to talk about his funding and research and how Al got to where he was today, then Edward promptly pointed them in his direction.

"So your father has acquired a top position I hear Edward…" The university professor's eyes travelled down to Winry before returning to Ed. Winry felt Edward's grip on her arm tighten and looked up at him with surprise. He grabbed a drink from the passing waitress and downed it before turning to reply to the man.

"Yes, he is just over there if you would like to talk to him." Edward pointed in his father's direction with the hand he wasn't spending on Winry, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

"Actually I came over to ask you're lovely lady here for a dance since you haven't been getting much use out of her…" His fake smile reached across his whole face and Winry was just about to protest with disgust when Edward spoke up. Winry guessed that the extra drink had given him the confidence he needed to say what he was about to.

"She isn't something to be _used!_ And _NO_ you cannot dance with her, goodnight!" Edward pulled Winry in a different direction and began to run with her down the corridor, before more harassing men came to pick up where that man had left off. Winry giggled as he pulled her into a spare room and let her go with a breath of relief.

"My, my Edward…" Winry flung herself against the wall next to him after a tiring run and smirked. "Taking _your _lady to a secluded room to get some _use _out of her I see?" She raised an eyebrow and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when he merely laughed in reply.

"Give me a break Winry, I didn't want to see anyone else's hungry lusting face any more. If it wasn't information they wanted, it was you!" He flung himself forward and observed his surroundings with curiosity.

"Well everyone wants me Edward; they are only human after all. You had your fair share of admirers too."

"And I didn't dance with them did I?"

"No, very impressive. You scored some points for ignoring the rest of the female population in the room." Winry was cut off as Edward started walking into the room. She followed him promptly with timid steps.

"I wonder whose room this is…" He wrapped his lazy arm around her shoulder and squinted.

"I think you have had too much to drink Edward." Winry sighed, trying to back away with him. "You are definitely too friendly… Who knows what will happen if we stay in this room."

"I'm always friendly!" He protested, allowing himself to be dragged back to the door by Winry.

"We can hide somewhere else, but I really don't think we should be in here!" Winry whispered in a hurry, a sudden rising feeling of worry brewing inside her. Edward however didn't seem to be listening, he simply continued to pull her towards the bed.

"What are you trying to do to me?" She squealed as she approached the bed with reluctant steps. However his grip on her hands was far too strong to try and break free from without reasoning with him.

"I just want to lie down for a moment!" He complained. "My head is spinning."

"Okay okay!" She let him fall down onto the bed and sat next to him with her hands in her lap. As he shut his eyes for a moment she looked around the room with worry. She knew someone was going to catch them out, possibly a guard, or someone important. Then Edward would blame her for not keeping him under control because he had been drunk.

"Hahaha Winry, do you remember the first time when we were fifteen that we had a drink?" Edward rolled his head from the side and pulled on her hair for fun.

"Edward!"

"You couldn't even walk, do you remember that?" His laughter filled the room and only continued to worry her.

"Of course I remember…"

"It was just us that night. I think I was upset and we ended up drinking a couple of your grandma's old crap." He began giggling at the memory. "Sheesh it tasted like shit but we kept drinking it anyway!"

"And I woke up with the biggest headache, Edward." Winry poked his stomach slightly, forgetful of what they were doing in this room.

"And we fell over each other so many times…"

"Yes that was awkward wasn't it?"

Winry felt his arm wrap around her and felt herself being tugged down to his level. He rose slightly to whisper in her ear.

"But you so wanted me." He whispered softly into her ear, pulling her down onto the bed with him. She let herself fall into his arms with a blush and opened her mouth to protest.

"I did not!"

"Did to."

"Not"

"Yeah you did."

"No I didn't Edward!"

"Fine, fine." He rolled his head to the side and shut his eyes for a moment. Winry's nervous feeling soon returned. He really knew how to let himself go when he was drunk.

"Edward we really shouldn't be here, I haven't drunk tonight and I don't have the calm sense about me that you do!" She slapped his prying hand away from her hair, and turned to face him with a serious look on her face. She wasn't playing around anymore, and by the obvious dazed expression on his face, he didn't' know what the hell he was doing. "I'm serious Edward! This is probably that girl's room! We shouldn't be in here!"

"It's not like we are hurting anything… I'm just lying here for a while… Can you massage my back Winry…?" He begged. "I promise I will give you one later, or maybe tomorrow."

Winry knew how much he loved his backrubs but right now was hardly the place or the time. Besides he was always slightly tipsy or happy when he asked for one. It was like the barrier between them had been shattered and she could finally place her hands on him without him spazzing out.

"I'll give you one at home!"

"I need another drink"

Winry scoffed at his remark. He hardly needed anymore of _that._

"Well let's head back to the party! I'm sure I can find you some." She sat up only to be pulled back down next to him.

"I'd rather stay here with you…"

"Edward! You will fall asleep! Besides how would you like it if I just barged into your room?" Winry slapped her forehead as a smirk played across his face and let out a breath. Honestly, usually it was him being the serious one.

"Hey Winry, remember that time when we used to play in the mud?"

"Of course Edward! But it isn't the time for playing in the mud now."

"Oh I think it is."

"You are an absolutely crazy drunk! I never knew this!" Winry stood from the bed with frustration and began walking to the door. "You can sleep here by yourself!"

"I'm not drunk! Just happy…"

"Oh yeah I can tell that mister! Now get up before you fall…! Edward!" She ran toward his aid as he tripped on his rise from the bed.

She tried to support his fall and fell silent when she felt his arms wrap around her waist firmly.

"Edward… what do you…?"

"Did I ever tell you that you how beautiful you are Winry?"

"Yes…" She felt her arms go limp as his embrace tightened.

"I'm sorry I have been a pain tonight…" He whispered into her ear.

"I-its okay!"

"Can I repay you?"

Winry thought on his suggestion for a moment. "Well you could…"

At that very moment the door flew open and the couple jumped apart with a start.

"Oh Edward there you are! Someone said they saw you running down here."

Edward seemed confused by the new arrival into the room and swayed slightly. "How about we go for a dance right?" Rose took hold of his hand and looked towards Winry whose blush had still not faded. A Winry, who looked extremely angered and interrupted. "What are you doing in my room?" Rose waited for a moment.

"Trying to escape from people who ask us to dance of course!" Winry spat back. She was just about to invite Edward out onto the dance floor herself… why did timing have to totally go against her?

"Well you want to dance with me don't you Edward? Oh looky, you can actually look beautiful Winry!" Rose let go of his hand and brought her hands together under her chin with that sparkly gaze Winry knew Edward couldn't resist. He threw an apologetic gaze in Winry's direction and let Rose pull him out of the room. Winry instantly ran after them and watched from the shadows as Rose wrapped her arms around Edward's neck and pulled him close. He was so drunk she didn't even think he could tell the difference between her or Rose.

"Wine please!" She grabbed a shot from the closest maid and gulped it down, feeling like she could break the glass with her own bare hands as she tensed them over it, watching the couple get closer and closer with the beat of the music.

"It looks like our partners ran off with each other…"

Winry turned her head to notice Al watching Edward and Rose with slight amusement. This didn't amuse her though, Al was always amused by something, and it pissed her off, especially tonight.

"Hmph!"

"He had to do it Winry… she is the daughter of our patron, if she wants to dance with him-"

"Like I care what he does!" She turned her head to the side and grabbed another glass of the poison that was going to hit her like a brick in the morning. She had been so controlled up until a minute ago… when it came to Edward! "He is so stupid!"

"You like him don't you?" Came the abrupt question from the smug looking Al who had won. The blush that crept across Winry's face told him the truth no matter how much she wanted to deny it.

"God." Winry tried to sustain the protest building up inside of her as she watched Rose mindlessly play with Edward's pony tail. Edward hated it when anyone did that. Yet sometimes he urged Winry on, he loved it when she ran his fingers through her hair. The expression on Edward's face told Winry he wasn't liking the fact that some stranger was playing with his hair… but he wasn't stopping her either. Winry felt her jealously rise to dangerous levels. Boiling point levels. "Hey! He only lets me do that!" Winry threw the glass to the ground when he didn't stop the girl from touching intimate places on his body and stormed from the room.

She threw the building doors open. Yes that's what it was, it wasn't a home it was a stupid heartless building that had just ruined her night!

"Jerk!"

"Wait Winry!" She was about to scream with disappointment when she turned her head to see the voice was not that of Edward's. Al was running after her with an extreme speed. She turned back to the front and continued to storm off.

"It's a long way from finished yet!"

"Well obviously Edward is happy with his new bride, he doesn't need me there! He can go flirt with princess all he wants!"

"Winry I don't think he was doing anything, he was forced into the situation."

"I don't care!" She crossed her arms over her chest and sniffed slightly, feeling anger turn to bitter tears. "I don't care! I just want to go home…! That place isn't my world anyway… Rose is right, I don't belong there. I can't be anything like a woman."

" Winry..."

"Look it doesn't matter, I don't care! I am just sick of trying so hard for everyone!"

"I'll take you home…"

"Sure whatever…!" She lowered her head. "I didn't even get to dance with him…"

Al turned to her with sympathy and placed his coat over her shoulders. It was going to be a long night.

**SATURN STARS**


End file.
